


Dragon Swordswoman(MAN, dammit!!)

by Colinyeo231



Category: One Piece
Genre: Bi-Curiosity, F/F, F/M, Gen, Genderbending, Reincarnation, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2019-11-04 21:16:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 87,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colinyeo231/pseuds/Colinyeo231
Summary: Pirates, monsters the size of skyscrapers, marines that are more corrupted then politicians; yup, this is the One Piece world alright. At least things can't get any crazier. Wait, I'm a girl now? And you're a dragon!? Self-Insert with a twist! Possible Yuri action.





	1. Do all Isekai stories start by dropping from the sky?

When people talk about the afterlife, it is universally accepted that it would be the dwellings of spirits in either the angelic paradise of heaven, of the fiery depths of hell. Regardless of the situation, you’ll end up in one of these places where you’ll spend the rest of your unliving life until reincarnation.

Or, if you are REALLY lucky, you’ll be reincarnated into another world like all those Isekai manga and anime I have watched.

…Yeah, the last one is definitely a really far-fetched idea, but one can still dream!

Either way, now I can state in upmost certainty that neither of them are correct!

Nope! Once you are dead, you’ll just end up in the void!

A dark, endless void where there is nothing all around with no floor or ceiling.

Just, emptiness…

…

…

…

Trippy…

Proof? Well, I can’t really show it as I’m dead myself.

Yup! Dead! Ran over by a damn speeding car, driver wasn’t even looking in front, busy looking at his precious phone that dipshit! Hope that fucker crash and burn! That would teach you to text and drive!

To think, that my entire life would end from something that mundane! I always picture myself dying on a hospital bed, next to my family and friends as they slowly turn off the life-support and I slowly drift away…

Not, CRASH! BOOM! DEAD! You are a goner! Must have been a crack spine or neck, instant death in the matter of seconds!

But then, what is life, am I right?

Speaking of life, looking back on my own, I really lived quite a short one, huh? Dead at the age of 25, not how I wanted to go out…

But now… at least I get to meet Lina again. I wonder how she’ll react to me dying to young? Sad? Angry? Hope she doesn’t try to kill me the second time…

Huh? What’s that bright light over there? Is it… coming closer…?

* * *

 

Out in the ocean, there sat a small ship, a sailboat that could house four grown men bobbing about on the salty waters. It’s hull dark brown wood while a cabin is built in the from the middle to the end with a large mast sticking out of the top of it with a single white sail that is currently rolled up.

It’s owner, a young man who seems to be in his early thirties wearing a fedora is busy with his fishing pole, his eyes staring right the little bopper in the water.

A tense second later, the bopper sinks and he immediately tugged on it, the fishing line tensed up as he tries to reel his catch as fast as he could, “Come here, you damn fish…!”

One last tug and the line slack causing him to pull back too much and fell right down onto the deck with a loud thump. With a groan, he got back up as he looked at his empty hook, “Damn it, almost had it…” He picks up and put back on his hat before noticing something in the sky.

With a look, he can see a shadow getting bigger, two shadows now that he looked closely. “What is that, a person…?”

The shadows soon became big enough to a point that is it truly visible to see what is falling down towards him, within the seconds it splashes right into the salty waters next to him. The figure floats up to reveal a person, a beautiful young lady to be exact.

“A… lady…?”

A second splash next to her caught his attention as what looks like a brown leather sack floats up close to her as well.

“And a sack…? What in the four seas…?”

* * *

 

At first there was a feeling of wind blowing against my face, before something impacted my face hard. Then there’s the feeling of water on my skin which is followed by what seems to be arms carrying me up to somewhere.

What… happened? I was dead a second ago, and then suddenly there is wind? And… water…? What’s going on?

A few hard pressure on my chest later and air suddenly fill my lungs causing me to cough which in turn jerks my entire body up. This feeling of a beating heart, of lungs expanding and the heat on my skin, it is official.

I’m alive again.

But… how? What happened…? Is this even possible?

Leaving my thoughts aside, I felt the heavy weight of my own eyelids as I forcibly tries to open my eyes to see what’s going on. The first thing that came to be blurry vision was the image of the blue skies, along with the feeling of a bopping up and down on the solid floor I am on.

Am I… on a boat…? On the open seas?

“Hey.”

I glanced to the side, where a face came into view. A man in his thirties, I think, in a short-sleeved white button-down shirt with bandages around his hands that reaches to his elbows with brown leather armour tied to his forearm and back of his hand, a dark blue pants tugged into a pair of brown leather boots with a bright red sash tied around his waist. On his slightly untamed mane of crimson-red hair sits a black fedora with a white stripe around it, shadowing his eyes with rather crystal-like red pupils that doesn’t look human at all, almost reptilian in nature.

“You okay?”

I opened my mouth to speak only to end up coughing due to the heavy dryness of my throat.

“Ah, hold on for a moment.” He rushes off somewhere, before returning with a small metal canteen. “Now, small sips.” He coaches my head upwards as he places the mouth of the canteen on my lips, the smooth and cool relief of liquid life flows in and down my throat.

A few small gulps later, he removed the canteen from my mouth. “Better now?”

With my throat moist and thirst quenched, I opened my mouth and…

“Yeah, thank-Huh?”

Was that… my voice…? I don’t remember sounding like that! That’s just like a girl’s voice!!

I quickly scramble to the side of the boat despite the man’s cries and look down at the water’s reflection. Expecting to see a young male face staring back, I ended up looking at someone else, someone completely different.

Instead, what I end up seeing is a young girl’s face, a rather pretty one at that. My normally messy black hair is now of a smooth glossy onyx that trails pass my shoulders with a perfect heart-shaped structure unlike those of a model, my narrow eyes became big round pupils of brown; a female face if I ever saw one.

“W-What is this?!” I shrieked out as I feel all over my new face, pinching my cheeks to make sure this is all real before reaching down to check if it is true elsewhere.

And I am right, horrifyingly so.

Where my normally flat chest is now a couple of small bulging tits that fit around my hands perfectly, said hands became slim and long, my waist that was originally slightly round is now flat and smooth, my hips are wider and my butt is definitely fuller than normal. When I went to feel my groin, I can’t feel the existence of my manhood, just the smoothness and emptiness between my thighs.

I have completely become a woman.

“N-No way… how did… what…?”

“Are you okay, miss?” The man asked me worriedly.

“Okay?! Do I look okay to you?!” I screamed at the man, “What is this?! Did you do this?!”

“Do what? I found you like this.”

“Are you sure?! I because I’m pretty sure I was a guy a few minutes ago!!”

The man looked at me confused, before looking at me up and down, “Is that why you dressed like that?”

I lift my eyebrow in confusion to his question, before looking back down on myself. Huh, what do you know? I’m wearing the exact same thing when I died. A short-sleeved dark-blue button shirt over a black undershirt with light grey pants and my yellow on black running shoes, the same kind of clothes I wear when I went out.

Although, they are all now a little too big for my body with my two shirts slacking over my shoulder and my pants extremely loose around my waist.

“Okay, let’s just say what you said is true…” The man sighed, “I doubt I’m the one that changed you. The only person that has that kind of ability is locked up in Impel Down and that is miles away from here.”

Wait, what did he just say? Impel Down? But that’s the name of the prison in… the… Oh no. Don’t tell me…

“Mister! Where are we right now?!”

“Huh? Where we are…? The East Blue. Somewhere between the islands of Riza, Conomi, and Yotsuba to be precise.”

East Blue…?! Conomi is definitely confirming it! Some way or other, I ended up in the world of One Piece!! And as a girl no less! This is bad… really, really bad! Of all the places to fall into, it has to be the one filled with blood-thirsty pirates!!

“Hey… you alright there?” He asked me again worriedly, “You seem rather pale…”

“I just… feel like my new existence is going to fade out in a flash…”

“Existence…? That’s rather heavy for a young lady…” The man stated before looking away, “Speaking of heavy, is that bag yours?”

Bag? I follow his gaze to notice the brown leather sack in the corner of the deck, with a strap for carrying use and tied at the top with what seems to be white rope in a knot. I definitely didn’t own a bag like that, specially of that type. “No, I don’t think that is mine.”

“Really, it fell out of the sky with you.”

“Wait, I fell out of the sky?!”

“Yeah.”

How cliché can this get?! Falling out of the sky?! That’s Isekai’s intro 101! That, or awakening in a strange place all alone-wait I did that too!! Goddamn it, am I in a self-insert now?! I love those kinds of fanfic to death but I never thought to being in one!

Oh, right! That sack! If it fell out of the sky with me, it must be something important!

I quickly rush towards the sack, nearly tripping over when my pants dropped a little, and undone the knot before opening it up for me to check the insides. In it, I found four things; a small chest the size of a small fruit, a book with the title of [Surviving the One Piece world for Dummies], what looks like a hunting knife of all things, and a brown envelope held closed by a wax seal that looks like two angel-wings within a halo.

If my experience with self-insert fics is right, that chest should be important but I’ll save it for later. First thing, that envelope.

Breaking the wax seal, I took out the folded letter inside and starts to read the contents.

* * *

 

Dear Visitor:

In the case this letter found its way to you on a much later date, I wish to apologise for any hardships you have/will encountered in your time in this world.

I am the goddess that govern over death and rebirth. My name isn’t something normal humans can pronounce so just call me Neo. For starters, I wish to say I’m sorry for tossing you into this world without warning. This is all a big mistake on my part.

You see, you were dragged out here on accident, by my idiot of a sister who got so drunk to the point which she mistaken your soul as the one from her world, the same world you are in right now; that she decides to toss you in, and then for some unknown reason change your gender as well. It was a big mess, and we’re both being punished for such an irresponsible behaviour.

Sadly, I couldn’t drag you back out, with you completely integrated into the world now. So, I’m afraid to say that you are forever stuck in that world till your death. When that would come is up to you.

But, I decided to leave you with some gifts for you, just enough so you can have some kind of chance of survival. You probably checked the bag so I’ll summarised them for you.

You would probably find a chest, inside contains an unknown Devil Fruit for your consumption. What kind of fruit is up there since it was my sister who picked it and she didn’t want to tell me what’s inside.

Next would be that book, where I manage to gather together all the info you would need in that world; of course, not including the ones you already have knowledge of. Think of it as the encyclopaedia of this world.

Lastly would be the knife. It is a knife of my own blessing. It is made with a metal that wouldn’t break no matter what, and its edge is sharp enough to pierce and cut through most metals like butter. You should be able to make good use of it in the near future.

Other than that, all I can say is: Wish you luck!

Signed: Neo

* * *

 

I stared at the letters on the paper, as the realization of it all echoes in my mind. I… can never go back… I’m… stuck here in this body, in this world until my death…

“Wha…What kind of bullshit is this?!” I screamed in rage tossing the letter aside. This is bullshit… what kind of dipshit is this?! Sending me here on a whim of a drunk goddess and now they don’t have the ability to sent me back?! What kind of goddess is she?!

This has to be a nightmare, none of it is real… it can’t be real!!

“Another world…”

The man beside suddenly spoke out, in his hands is the same letter I was reading a few moments ago. Ah, crap! This isn’t something a resident of this world should be finding out!!

“I thought you seem different.” He noted with a glance towards me, “Although, this part here interests me.” He fully turned to face me with a stare, “[Already have knowledge of.], huh?”

“Eek!”

“Pray tell me, what kind of knowledge do you possess of this world? What you say next…” He cracks his knuckle, “Well… you can guess, right?”

Crap, crap, crap! D-Did I ended up with someone extremely dangerous?! A bounty hunter?! Mercenary?! Pirate?! “I-It’s… um… well… you see… uh…”

*Splash* “ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!”

We all were stopped from the stare off when a large creature emerged from the waters below, its enormous reptilian-like face that resembles a moray eel staring right at us with its jaws opened and throat (?) vibrating as the remanence of its initial roar echoes within.

A… Sea King… A FUCKING SEA KING?! We’re still in the East Blue, right?!! Why is there a Sea King here?!

“A young one, huh?” The man chuckles, a bestial grin on his face, “Good timing. I was having trouble with my food supplies and you gladly shows up.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on for just a freaking moment!! Is this guy planning on hunting and eating that?! This is insane! I don’t know who he is, but I doubt he has the ability to kill off a freaking Sea King!! I mean, this is the small boat and he doesn’t look like someone who can do just that!!

The large beast growled before lunging forward towards us, I letting out scream of terror on complete reflex before the man pulls back his fist…

…And proceeds to slam said fist into the nose of the sea monster.

With that punch knocking its head back at least several feet.

I felt my own jaw came loose as I witness the giant head of the monster flew back to the point I barely registered the fact that the offender has rushed into the cabin until I realised his lack of presence on the deck and the opening of the door.

The Sea King eventually rushes back towards the boat with its jaws wide open, ready to chomp down on the wooden vessel with me on it. I stood frozen as I watches as my deadly fate is fast approaching, my past life flashing before my eyes. Is… this it…? Is this how I’m going to die…? Brought into a world of danger and die only a few minutes of living again…?

Man, I suck and living…

And it is at that moment when I see the teeth slowly coming down around me, a flash of metal rings out and the beast suddenly retracted roaring out as a cut tooth plops into the water next to the boat. I turned to the sudden appearance of the owner of this boat, in his hands now wielded is a long Chinese-styled sabre, its edge coated with red blood.

Is that… a Miao Dao? Did he… cut the tooth out with that?!

“Should have brought it with me to the deck the first time…” The man sighed as he flicks his weapon to the side, blood splatters off onto the deck and into the ocean, “Then again, I wasn’t expecting a Sea King here…”

The said monster looked back at us with a growl and a frown on its face, its missing teeth along with the slash wound apparent for us to see, before lunging towards us once more. With a smirk, he jumps up with the recoil of his jump rocking the ship rather wildly. Once he is right above the monster, with hand on his sword he swings down hard.

“Dragon Sword Style: Grand Divider!”

The resulting slash slices the head clean off its body, the giant head skidding on the surface of the water before splashing onto the salty waters in front of the ship. I felt the sea water raining down on me as the head floats back up with its now dull eyes looking up.

What…just happened…? Did that man just one-shot a fucking SEA KING?! What is going on?! Who is he?!

Speaking of which, that same man is also standing on the dead body of the monster with a satisfied smile on his face, “What a damn great prize! Wouldn’t have to worry about food for a good while!”

And that, is the last straw on the camel’s back as I finally blacked out from it all.

…Oh god, why this world, why…?

…

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there! Finished this in one day so it will be slightly rushed. But damn, I was thinking of writing this for a while, since I’ve read several SI One Piece fics and a lot of them are quite good! If you like this kind of story, I recommend This Bites by Xommiac. It is one of the best fics of this genre and what finally drove me to writing this.
> 
> Another one I would recommend is Through the Eyes of a Canine by NyanWolfy. It was the first one I have read and it has quite an interesting premise!
> 
> Twelve Red Lines by Vikingr is good as well!


	2. One bad idea

The smell of a cooked meal tickles my nose as I am brought out of unconsciousness. My eyelids fluttered for a moment as I took in the appearance of a shimmering starry sky with the bright moon shining above.

What happened…? I remember being… scared… then cursing a goddess… and teeth-

The Sea King!

I immediately got up, looking around in fear but not finding the giant monster. What I did ended up finding is the large beheaded eel-like body of said monster cut opened to its bones with a campfire burning on top of its skin with a cooking pot above it held in place by a tripod.

And by the pot is the very culprit of the creature’s slaughter, said man busy finicking with the pot’s contents with a pair of chopsticks.

“Oh, you’re awake.” The man noted with a smile as he took out a few pieces of what looked like well-done mini steaks from the pot and dropped them onto a wooden plate, “Want some? Freshly grilled Sea King meat!”

So that’s why grilled Sea King meat looks like… it does look rather appetizing. And I am getting rather hungry myself…

And as if reading my own mind, my stomach lets out a low yet loud growl. I felt my face turns red as the man starts laughing before holding out the plate in his hand, “Come on up, let’s eat.”

I hesitantly got onto the Sea King’s dead body, while getting annoyed at my loose pants and manages to tie a knot on it to tighten it, took the offered plate before taking a piece of meat on it by hand and dropping it into my mouth, the surprisingly savoury fish-like texture fills my cheeks with delight as I faithfully chew it up and then devour the rest of the meat on my plate.

“Good, right?”

I nodded in agreement, as he places a few more pieces on my plate while I reposition myself to sit more comfortably cross-legged.

Just as I am about to eat another piece, the realization hits me.

Wasn’t he all suspicious of me before? All about to complete wreck me if I didn’t tell him the truth? What’s with his sudden friendliness all of the sudden? Wait! Is… this meat drugged…?! Oh god, am I going to-

“No, the meat is not drugged.”

Eh?! He can read my mind?!

“No, your facial expression is way too obvious.” The man chuckles as he places a cooked meat into his mouth, “Sorry for all that threats earlier. That letter and your reaction does trigger a bit of a reflex in me.”

What kind of reflex results with him threating to kill me?!

“Let’s start this up back up from the beginning.” He stated reaching his hand out in a friendly gesture, “I’m Sen, Wanderer of the Seas. What’s your name?”

Wanderer of the Seas? What kind of title is that? Is Wanderer even a legit title to get? And a wanderer? In these seas? I guess that would explain his strength…

Not wanting to appear rude, I reach out my hand to shake his, “Rein. Visitor from another world, I supposed.”

“Rein, then.” After the handshake, Sen goes back to cooking the meat, “So, you’re from another world? First time I have ever heard of such a thing.” He pauses to munch down on a recently cooked piece of monster flesh, “And a goddess accidentally sent you here? Talk about bad luck.”

“It’s more of good luck than bad, honestly…” I mumbled out of my full mouth, before swallowing my meat, “I was actually dead before then.”

“Eh?! You mean you were brought back to life?!”

“Pretty much, dead as a doornail.”

“You sure seem rather nonchalant about it, though.” Sen noted, “I mean, aren’t you at least freaked out?”

“I am. Just that…” My thoughts went back to the Sea King attack and Sen’s own counter followed by his one-sided slaughter, “You kind of blasted it all away… like with this Sea King…”

“Hahaha, I guess that’s logical.” He chuckles, before continue with our meal.

The rest of our meal time is spent in silence, with the occasional sounds of chewing and the ever present sizzling sounds of cooking meat in the background. I’m not sure how long we have been eating, but before long I start to feel my stomach reaching its maximum capacity as I place my plate beside me on the floor, letting out a sigh of delight.

“Man, that was some good eating.”

“Glad you enjoy it.” He smirks as he puts out the fire.

“Thank you for cooking it.” I noted before realizing something, “Oh, and thank you for rescuing me back there.” He looked back at me confused as he took the metal plate off the tripod, “If you haven’t been where you are, I would have drowned without knowing anything.”

“Eh, no skin off my back.” Sen noted with a shrug tucking the metal plate under his armpit, “I was just in the area, is all.”

“What were you doing out here, anyway?” I asked curiously as I watches him fold up the tripod, “I know your title, but is it really that simple?”

“That hard to believe, huh?” He laughed holding the folded tripod under his arm, “But seriously, I am a wanderer. But not one without any idea of where to go; trust me, being lost in the open ocean is a death sentence.” He walks to the boat where he places the two items on the deck, “I mostly stay at one island to check on any new information, gather updates for my maps before heading out for the next island. There are times where I got lost halfway due weather complications and ended up at a different island, but I consider them lucky than unlucky to be honest.”

“So, you pretty much gather up information from all the islands you been to?”

“Yes, and no. There are limits to what I can collect, with time-lapse and biases and all that.”

That means he has a lot of information about the places he has been before; and if he has been in the East Blue for a while…

“Shells Town. Have you been there?”

“The marine base?” He asked confused before thinking for a bit, “Yeah, a couple of weeks back… Book it out of there once I got info on the next island. Damn Morgan and his tyranny…”

So, Morgan is still in control… that means that Luffy hasn’t arrived yet… but it doesn’t tell me where I am in the timeline. Has Luffy left his village yet? Is Zoro still held captive in the marine base? So many uncertain answers to my questions and none can be answered of this point.

I sighed dejectedly not knowing what to do at this point. Sen seems to catch on to it as he starts to ask.

“Does Morgan have anything to do with what that letter stated about you?”

I flinched, before turning to him with a rather firm stare. Not the murderous stare he has earlier that day, but still a rather intimidating one.

“Uh… that’s…” I look away worriedly as I keep a look around to find a way out of this mess.

“Hey, now. I’ve feed you, you know.” He pointed out with a frown, “No such thing as a free lunch- well, dinner in this case… but same thing. The least you can do is give me a snippet of truth.”

He… does have a point there. I do own him one. Or two. Maybe a three, if you add in the whole saving from the Sea King. I mean, he doesn’t seem to be anyone of real important to the actual plot so telling him about said plot should be fine, right?

But he is right on one thing. He does deserve some snippet of truth. Even just a pinch of it. Or a grain…

Yeah, let’s go with grain for now.

“Okay, I guess you deserve that much…”

Sen smiles as he crosses his arms awaiting answers. “Um, let’s see here…” I thought on about how do I explain it, before settling with such, “In the other world, we have these things we call comic books, manga if you want to be specific, and I am a fan of one such book. One series that told a story of a boy that travel this expansive world of pirates with a motley crew in search of the one big treasure left behind by the Pirate King-”

“The One Piece.”

Sen conclusion stopped me as I took a look at him to see a sudden realization on his face, like he finally pieces together what I just said, “You read a story about this world, about the One Piece…” He stared at me in shock before adding on, “The boy in your book-”

“Manga.”

“Whatever! That boy, what is his name?”

“Err…” Should I tell him? If he is as well-travelled as he proclaimed, he must know about the whole Garp issue. Would it make it a big splash if I tell him? But then… it’s just a name. Maybe he wouldn’t change much just by knowing his name.

“So?”

“Okay, fine. But don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Sure.”

I braced myself before taking a deep breath, “His name is Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Luffy-Wait, his name is…” He realized for a moment. An awkward silence filled the air as I stared at his dumbfounded face, before a grin starts to crack on his face as he bursts out into a roaring laugh.

“SAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! THIS IS TOO GOOD!!” He laughed out loud falling on his back rolling about on the dead Sea King clutching his stomach, “Garp’s going to be so pissed!! Oh, how I wish I was there to take a picture of his face when he finds out!”

Okay… That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Does he know Garp on a more familiar grounds? Are they friends?

…Oh god, is he a Marine?! Not good, not good! I’ve told a marine about it! This is bad! Really, really bad!

“Sahahaha, oh man… haven’t laughed like that for quite a while.” He chuckles, before turning to face me who has already booked it back to the boat to grab the sack of things that dumb goddess gave me, “Huh?”

I need to get out of here. If I ended up in the World Government’s hands, there’s no telling what the Five Elder Stars are going to do to me! Or worse, I get sent to the Celestial Dragons where I’ll live as a slave for the rest of my rebirth life!

“Hey! W-Wait a moment here!!”

I barely got my hands on the sack when I hear a thump on the wooden deck as the boat bounced a bit, my guess Sen landing on the boat. I quickly wrapped my arms around it, bringing it close to me as I scuttle back away from his approaching figure.

“Look, just calm down a moment here… I don’t know what came over you, but I mean you no harm.” He tries to tell me but I refused to listen as I rack my mind on how to get out. Swimming is definitely out, no telling how far the next island is, but I can’t stay here and let him take me in!

Think, Rein, think! What do I have in my disposal here? There’s the knife, but he would easily take that out of my hand while breaking said hand. That leaves…

Of course! The Devil Fruit! It might give me a slight edge in dealing with him!

I quickly rummage thought the sack and took out the wooden chest. I heard him gasp as I forcefully open the chest to see the fruit inside. In it on a red cushion lays what looks like a tomato, one that is ash-white with swirls all over it with said swirls around the entire fruit like some kind of watery skin.

Oda definitely didn’t truly captivate the essence of such a fruit with his drawings, but then again… no one truly can once I took a good look at it.

“Whoa! Hold on there! Don’t do anything rash-”

I pick up the fruit (Or vegetable? Eh, who knows?) and take a large bite of it. And once the chewed piece hit my tongue, I struggle with all my might not to spit it out.

Want to know how it taste? Take the vilest thing you have ever eaten in your entire life, let it rot for few years, add dried shit as seasoning and you’ll get at least one percent of what I am tasting. Oh god, it tasted as bad as advertised! How did Luffy finished an entire one?!

“S-Spit it out! Quick! Whatever you do, don’t-”

I took a deep breath and swallowed that piece as forcefully as I could muster. I let out a moan as I still feel aftertaste of the fruit lingering on my tongue. Okay, now… what powers do I get…? Please be something useful…

“Are you out of your freaking mind?!” Sen screamed out in what I assume to be horror as he pulls me up to his eye level by my shirt “What in your right mind do you consider eating a Devil Fruit in the middle of the OPEN OCEAN?!”

“Hey! Let me go!” I struggle against his grip, trying to get away from him. NO! I refused to be captured by a marine! Not here! Not now!

“Do you even know what kind of Devil Fruit you’ve eaten?!”

“LET! GO!”

I shouted out as I suddenly felt a burning sensation from my chest that moves up my throat before I felt the heat near my tongue, as a large blast of fire erupts out in front of me from assumingly my mouth. The blast expands forward as Sen moves out of the way, causing him to let go as I stumble a bit on my feet while the flames expands out covering my entire view. The fire eventually stops once I felt out of breath, leaving me a coughing mess with the few coughs letting out some smoke with each breath.

Wha…What did I just…?

It was then I felt a slight numbing sensation on my hands, I brought them up to watch them slowly morph into what looks like humanoid claws with reptilian scales on the back of it. That is followed by a sudden pushing feeling on the tail bone, the sensation akin to a needle poking my skin only from within.

Could it be…? A Zoan? It has to be, with the animalist traits. Only problem is… which one?

“D-Don’t tell me… that fruit is…!”

Huh? Even Sen is flustered, almost scared even. Huh? Whatever this fruit is based on, it must be powerful to scare him. Looks like I’ve gain an advantage over him!

Before I can take advantage of my… advantage, a painful sting on my shoulder blades nearly drop me to my knees as I suddenly feel a heavy weight on my back, causing me to lose my balance as I stumble about before the back of my shin hits the side of the deck that eventually topple me over the boat.

“REIN!”

I barely had time to scream before I dunked head-first into the cold salty waters below.

The first thing that I notice once I’m submerged is the new sensations from my back and the back of my hip. The second thing is that I suddenly felt the all energy sapped out of me. All of the sudden, I instantly felt weak with my limps suddenly felt like lead and the overall tiredness of my muscles.

I couldn’t move at all, as I watch the surface slowly shrinks as I keep on sinking into the dark deeps of the open oceans, helpless to my own helplessness.

I… didn’t think this through, did I?

* * *

 

Sen could only look at the slowly decreasing numbers of bubbles in shock.

For some reason, once he started laughing, that girl suddenly freaked out considering her actions afterwards. And then, for some unspoken reason, she grabs the Devil Fruit that was in the chest and proceeds to eat it despite his warnings.

And from her form changing, it is obvious that it is a Zoan type.

Not only that, he knows exactly what type it is.

“A Mythical Zoan of all things… and of all them, it is THAT one…” He groaned as he recalled what halfway transformation he saw of that young lady. The large wings on her back with that long slender tail is a dead giveaway.

He stared down at the bubbles slowly decreasing in number, before letting out a groan before diving in.

Of all things, he has to find an otherworldly traveller…

* * *

 

I barely register surfacing until I felt my back impacts the wooden deck hard, I coughing out a good amount of seawater in the process. I’m… alive?

“Oh, for the love of all things-Are you actively trying to get yourself killed?”

Sen’s voice nearly jolted me into attention while failing to do so once I noticed my limps are still as heavy as lead. I let out a groan in agony as I realised the complete helplessness and my unchangeable situation.

“Oh, damn it all…” I groaned out, “Fine. You win. Take me away.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. You’re a marine, right? Getting me to the Elder Stars will definitely give you a fat promotion, so go on. Sail away to the nearest marine base. Guess it’s a slave’s life for me now…”

“Whoa, whoa. Did you think that I’m a… _marine_ …?” Sen asked, I nodded in response. There was a small pause before he let out a painful chuckle, “Oh god, so that’s what it was all about?”

“Wait. So… you’re not?”

“Of course not!!” He stated with a laugh, “I’m not a marine! Former or otherwise! You must have misunderstood something.”

“But… you are friends with Garp, right?” I pointed out.

“Oh, that part. Look, there are plenty of ways to be acquainted with that idiot of the Vice-Admiral, not just marine officers. Trust me, he has plenty of them outside the navy AND the law.”

Oh. So, it was all a misunderstanding on my part then. Oh, my goodness, this is so embarrassing! How could I forget about that little fact of Garp’s character…? He is friends with a fucking MOUNTAIN BANDIT!!

“I’m such an idiot…” I groaned out.

“Indeed, you are.” He agreed with me.

“So… what now?”

“Well, I was originally plan to leave you with a friend of mine, but now that you have eaten that Devil Fruit… I’m not too sure I should let you out of my sight.” He stated, before noting my confused expression, “…You do realise what kind of Devil Fruit you’ve eaten, right?”

“Um…”

“Oh lord, give me strength…”

…

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! Second chapter done! And yes, there are a lot of changes compared to the original. Like giving my OC a Devil Fruit for one. And yes, it’s a goddamn Mythical Zoan type instead of the usual paramecia. I mean, I do have some in mind for this, but Zoans are physical fighters, the exact type of fighter Rein is going to be.
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!


	3. Preparation

The smell of the salty breeze tickles my nostrils, my eyes flutter open letting the bright sunlight invade my vision. Huh? Morning already? When did I fall asleep?

What time is it? That was my thought process before I turn my head to check my phone only to pause when I saw the wooden walls and floors, as well as the visible feeling of bouncing up and down of being on a boat.

Oh right. This isn’t my room, or my world.

I’m in the One Piece universe now.

If I recall correctly, once I am rescued from nearly drowning a second time, Sen decided that it is enough excitement for one night and pushed me into the cabin. Already tired an exhausted from all that crazy shit I have endured all this while and the additional experience of falling into the sea as a Devil Fruit user, I fell asleep almost instantly once my face touches the lone bed in the room.

Getting up, I got off the bed and stretches out my tense body, sounds of a few joints cracking a little filled my ears before I let out a sigh of relief and dejection. The first day here, I have already nearly drowned, twice, got attacked by a freaking SEA KING, and ate a Devil Fruit which in all things considered isn’t that bad except for the taste.

I think I can still taste it in my mouth… Wow that is nasty. And Luffy ate an entire fruit without blanching?

Speaking of which… what kind of a Devil Fruit did I ate? I was in a panic when I eat it and I haven’t really used it with the exception of last night.

I know it is a Zoan at least, considering my hands morphing in front of my eyes, but of what animal? It has to be a reptile, with the scales on my hands, but what kind of reptile have the ability to breathe fire?

Wait… reptile with the ability to breathe fire… only one came to mind.

But that… can I be that lucky? Or unlucky? I mean, it is proven to be real in the Punk Hazard arc, but that is a completely different one than mine!

I let my musing drag off into the corner of my mind and decides to focus on the most important thing. Like the fact that I have absolutely no idea where I am in the timeline. I have nothing to go on either, no news about the world currently and I am in the open ocean, far from any forms of human civilization.

Speaking of which, didn’t Sen say something about between a few islands…? Conomi, Riza and Yotsuba, was it? I think that Conomi is the island in East Blue where Arlong is situated, but I have never heard of Riza or Yotsuba.

My musing is cut short by the heavy knocking on the wooden door, “You awake, yet?” Sen called out from outside.

“Y-Yeah! I’m up!”

“Good, I need some help with the sails! Mind giving me a hand?”

With that, I decide to think about it all later and head out to the deck to help out.

* * *

 

And with that, I am proud to say that I have zero knowledge on how sail boats work. Well, I do know HOW they work, it’s not rocket science, but the fact of how they are USED that is problem. The very moment I exited the door, Sen immediately got me into a hectic with various orders on ropes and all that. Orders with no context for someone who has never sailed a boat in her-

HIS! HIS entire life! Nearly got me there… almost referred to myself as a woman proper. That is something I cannot let myself do. No matter what, I am a man till the end! Even without my penis!

Putting that aside, Sen just starts barking orders left and right which results me to just panic and run up and down the deck in complete confusion. That must have clued him in and he spent most of the morning teaching me on all the tricks and procedures for manning a sail boat.

I never thought that there are so many ways a rope is used in sailing, not to mention the required movements needed to move the damn sail in the first place.

And the knots… oh dear god the knots…

After the hectic and somewhat educational morning, we are set on a proper course without any additional adjustments. At least not from me with Sen perfectly fine with manning the entire rigging solo. Which has left me a lot of time in my hands to figure out my Devil Fruit powers.

Okay, first thing first, how do I even activate them? This isn’t a passive Paramecia like Luffy’s rubber, it’s a Zoan like Chopper’s Human-Human Fruit. And with what I remember reading in the manga, the transformations are often triggered consciously, or subconsciously with me.

There are three forms: the normal state, the half-transformed state, and the fully transformed state.

The normal state is the standard human form, no abilities what’s so ever. The half-transformed is humanoid with animal features, the most used state of any Zoan type. And the fully transformed is where I take the form of the animal the fruit is based on.

I must have triggered my half-transformed state yesterday, since I still have most of my human features. But how do I go into it? Last time was completely by accident, add with nearly drowning didn’t give me much to remember by.

If only I can recall that feeling… what was it? Oh, what I would have give for some kind of guide to this…

Then it hit me. I DO have a guide! That book the goddess gave me! I rush back into the cabin where Sen has stowed the sack and starts rummaging through it, taking out the large book. I let loose a few chuckles from looking at the title, before opening the book up.

Wow, this book has almost everything. There is content about the four seas, like how the East Blue has the calmest pirate climate in the era, and even about the classifications of every known Devil Fruits! There has to be a hint in here! I just need to look, I’m sure I’ll find it!

A few minutes of page flipping, I ended up on the Devil Fruit pages; specifically, the Zoan part of the Devil Fruit chapter.

Now what do we have here… [Zoan are animal-based Devil Fruits that ranges from the largest mammals to the smallest insects, although the latter is extremely rare to get. Once eaten, the user is able to use the abilities of the animal-] Blah, blah, blah, I know that already! Are there any hints on how to use it?

…And, here we are! Let’s see now… [Zoan transformations are often triggered through imaging the picture of your form on the back of the mind. Clearer the image, the faster the transformation.]

Imaging, huh?

Never thought of it like that before.

But it would make sense. It’s basically telling my body that this is my form now.

It’s worth testing out.

Taking the book out on to the deck with me, I close my eyes and start on imaging that form from last night. Let’s see, I have scaly arms… breathe fire… a… tail, maybe? Oh! Wings, too! The feeling on my back can’t be anything else.

The picture in my mind is hazy for a moment, but a few moments of concentration and imagination is enough to visualise a possible form. With that in mind, I try my hardest to focus on that image, of my new form.

My concentration is almost broken when I start to feel same numbing sensation on my hands as before. I ignore it and keep focusing on the image. Soon enough, the same feeling spread to my legs and the back, before the same sharp sting is felt on three places at once, I sucking a sharp breath of air in the result. Then there is an additional pain on my forehead that forces me to let out a hiss of pain.

Soon the numbing sensation completely ceased, I collapsing on the deck with a sigh of relief. I open my eyes and gingerly brought my hands up to my eye-level.

Sure enough, they are the same reptilian design as last night. Now that I have a closer look, the scales are of a whitish colour with them completely covering my forearm and maybe a bit of my biceps. I slowly tries to get up, my sense of balance completely off as I wobble for a moment before dropping on my knees and holding on the edge of the deck for dear life.

Okay, this is new… my feet felt like they are in constant bend and there is a feeling of what I can only describe as a third leg on back of my hips, not to mention the additional feeling of a new pair of arms on my back.

“Experimenting already?”

I turn to face Sen who bend down offering me a hand. My face heats up in embarrassment before I push down the blush and accepts his help, he pulling me up onto my feet in one smooth motion.

I nearly fell over again, the boat’s owner’s firm grip on my hand becoming the only thing that is stopping my ass from plopping back on the deck.

“Take it easy now.” He tells me raising his other hand for me to grab, which I did with haste as I leaned forward slightly with my legs trembling slightly.

“This is harder than it looks…” I noted with a frown.

“You ARE basically re-learning how to walk.” He points out, “Although, I would suggest bending your knees slightly. Trust me, it would easier.”

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I follow his suggestion and bend my knees. Sure enough, my balance seems to right itself as I am now standing upright and proper. Huh, guess being humanoid in nature doesn’t always mean human-like joints.

I slowly took one step forward but I ended up straightening my knees on instinct and falling backwards from overbalancing. I spun my arms in attempts to get my balance back, and that ended up creating a gust of wind from my back that somehow sent me flying up into the air.

Spinning all about in the air before I fell straight down towards the ocean below. Just before I splashes back down into the salty waters, I saw my reflection for a split second and a single thought run through my mind.

Oh, I have horns now.

* * *

 

Fishing me out of the waters for the third time must have been the straw that broke his back as the moment I am back on the boat, Sen have me sitting on my knees while he starts to lecture me on the dangers of the seas as a Devil Fruit user which lasts till late in the evening, which means we missed lunch all together. That later rectified by a short snack break before continuing on.

With that, the next of the few days were spent sailing across the open waters of the East Blue with breaks in between for meals and we never sail at night, minus a few occasions where we have to due to ending up in dangerous currents from what he told me.

During that time, Sen helped me with adapting to being a Zoan user. I have used the time we had in our breaks to experiment with my new powers, as well as trying to even move in my new form.

I have managed to walk a few steps without assistance around the boat if a bit wobbly in fashion, but it has given me some idea of what kind of Devil Fruit I have consumed. A Zoan, a Dragon-like Zoan. The fire breath was kind of a dead give-away, but then I realised what the strange feeling on my back was. It was Wings. I have dragon wings!!

And boy, did I try to use them as much as I can.

Kept falling and nearly drowning in the process too…

Sen was really pissed about it, pretty much lectured me and confined me to the cabin for the rest of the day. Haha… guess no training with wings until we reach land at least…

Other than that, I’ve also decided to look through the stuff the goddesses left me. Most of the book is about the things that I remember about the series, along with a small encyclopaedia on the Devil Fruits classified by Types and Sub-categories. It also includes information on the four blues, from the cultures to standard climates, as well as the biology of the ecosystem for each Blue which I’ve bookmarked with a fold in the page to remind me to go back to read it up when I get the chance.

The hunting knife on closer inspection, isn’t actually a knife. Knife is downplaying it. It has a brown leather-wrapped handle with a bayonet-like hilt and a tanto-like blade that is long enough to not be considered a dagger, but too short to be considered even a short sword with saw-like serrations near the handguard; the whole blade sheathed in a leather scabbard.

But in the end of your trip, we reached our destination, the place where Sen has told me around the time I started experimenting with my powers.

Loguetown. The town of beginnings and endings.

The very same town where the Straw Hats stopped before their entrance to the Grand Line, the starting point of their adventures forth.

And now, I am here at the start of my very own adventure. Sen had stated the need for me to get some proper equipment for my travels with him, and my future travels with the Straw Hats. Yes, I have told him about my goals here in this world, well, my current objective anyway, of becoming one of the Straw Hat pirates.

If I’m going to survive in this world, my best bet is with the Straw Hats. The entire plot is, and mostly, centred around their adventures, after all; Luffy’s to be precise. So, for me to have a remote chance of living a long and proper life in this world of bloodthirsty pirates and corrupt government officials without dying to either one of those, I would have to become a Straw Hat pirate myself. A criminal profession, sure; but it is better than serving the corrupt world power that is the World Government.

With that in mind, it also means that I have to appeal to them to allow me to join; which translates to ‘Impress Luffy with my powers to allow me to join’, which also means that I have to be capable of handling myself in a fight and be a capable hand on helping out on a proper sailing ship.

Sen has agreed to train me in combat and being with him on his boat would allow me to gain some knowledge on how to properly rig up a sailing vessel. Although the fact on how he is planning on training me is a little vague. He didn’t actually do anything in the time we spent getting here, which worries me a little…

“Nice place, huh?” Sen’s words broke me out of my musings, allowing me to fully take in the scenery in front of me.

The port city is just like how Oda has drawn it, bustling and full of life. The architecture of the place is remanence of old European port towns, with white-tiled streets and stone brick houses and buildings. There are people all over the place, of all shapes and sizes, age and ethnic origins.

It is almost breath-taking. It truly sells that I am truly am in a completely different world now. Everything is exactly like what Oda would think of in the One Piece universe. From the clothing style, to even the architecture, everything screams Age of Pirates.

“Yeah… it is…” I replied to him.

“Glad it’s to your taste.” He chuckled before walking past me, “Come on, we’re burning sunlight here.” He navigates me through the streets of the city while explaining everything of what we are to do here in this place, “If you’re going to start training under me, you would a change of clothes. There’s no way the threads you are wearing are suitable for whatever we are doing.”

I look down at my current outfit, the loose shirts and pants barely clinging onto me from the knots I tied to tighten it, not to mention my shoes that I have somehow lost few days ago. Don’t know when or how, but I did lose them. Not only that, but it seems my transformation doesn’t sit well with my shirt, with the two long gashes on the back lining up with my shoulder blades.

True enough, these clothes are meant for the modern cities, not open waters. Not to mention I need a size change, and new underwear begrudgingly. My nipples have been rubbing against me shirt quite painfully the past few days. Geez, is this why woman wear bras past puberty?

A horrifying realization suddenly pops into my head. Does that mean…

“A-Are we going to a…”

“Sadly, yes, we are.” Sen told me right as we stop right in front of a clothing store, the line of woman undergarments on display told me everything.

No. Nononononononono! I am NOT wearing a bra! No way! Not even that is the only clothes I have left! I rather walk about naked! My dignity as a male is one of the last thing I have left, and I would not tarnish it any more than I have to!

“There are boxers…”

“Rein. You’re not a guy anymore.” He told me, “And if you want to get stronger, the first thing you have to do is to adapt to your new body. Even that means wearing… you know.”

“…Is there no way out of this?”

“Trust me. This is as uncomfortable to me as well.”

I sigh before bracing myself, “Okay, I’ll… try…”

“Good, now go.”

“Huh?”

“What, are you expecting me to enter in there?” He stated out as he proceeds to pushes me forward from behind, “A young man of questionable origins entering in there with a girl with very loose clothing with no undergarment to boot? The marines will get here within minutes! Besides, getting some undergarments can’t be that hard!” My feet soon pass through the doorway, leaving me standing there numbly as the door closes behind me. Most of the woman just took a glance at me, before continuing their own shopping.

Ah right, I’m a girl now. It must be a regular occurrence for them.

I glance back with a glare before taking a few deep breaths and numbly take a few steps forward, my eyes wandering about the place not sure where to look. Women standing about talking while holding up a lingerie on a rack, rows of bras of various shapes and colours paired with panties of matching designs dotted the walls and cupboards with some tags describing what kind of undergarment it is.

It’s like being in another country…! I’m not even sure why I am doing here. I don’t even know what the tags say! None of these makes any sense! And why does girls need that much frills on something no one is going to see?!

“Excuse me, ma’am?” I nearly jumped when a voice from behind me suddenly spoke, I slowly turn around to face a young lady with a name tag on her shirt, “Do you need some help?”

“Um… yeah… I… err…”

“Oh, is this your first time here?” She stated with a professional smile, “No worries, let me help you out. Do you at least know your cup size?”

“My… what?”

“Oh, dearie me.” She gasped in surprise, “Why don’t we measure it for you? Please, come this way.”

I am SO going to kill Sen when I get out of here…

* * *

 

After a series of rather embarrassing events, like the lady teaching me how to fit a bra around my… _breasts_ … by semi-groping me to fit them in, I finally managed to get a few sets of lady undergarments for me to wear. And I know my own cup size now, not that I ever want to know it in the first place…

For the record, I’m an AB-cup, pushing for a solid B apparently.

When I finally exited the shop, Sen is still there with another person next to him. This one is a young lady with a bluish bob-cut hair and cyan eyes, wearing a cropped black shirt that shows her belly button under a brown hooded vest left opened and a pair of tight white jeans folded up her shin to show off her stylish high-heels sandals.

“Ah, you came out okay.” He commented with a smirk, which grinds my gears as I prepared to shout at him for just throwing me in without warning…

Only to be interrupted when the woman next to him walks up to me staring very intensively. All of a sudden, I felt completely naked under her glare as she circles around me with hands on her hips, her eyes never leaving my body before stopping right in front of me. “U-Um… is there something wrong…?”

She blinked a little, before her hand reaches out and pulls my pants’ out for a peek to my horror, me reacting by pulling back the strap of my pants as I took several steps back away from her. What is she, a pervert!?

“So, this is guy is the one you told me?” She asked Sen, who nodded, “Got to admit, he completely one hundred percent a woman. No male attributes anywhere.”

“You could have just asked!!” I screamed at her to a dismissive shrug from the lady.

“Wait… Didn’t Ivankov get dragged to Impel Down a few years back?” She noted, “So how are they able to change his gender and then send him all the way out here to the East Blue?”

“Ivan is not the one that change him.” Sen explained, “She is a unique case, one that I would prefer not sharing too much.”

“You really should do something about that bad habit of yours.” She points out, “I’m not that willing to take in strays, you know.”

“Yeah, but he does need assistance, and I do need a place to train him.”

“If you say so.” She shrugged before turning to me with a hand out, “Sorry for all that, let’s start over. Name’s Silvia, captain of the merchant ship Sliver Fang. You’re Rein, am I right?”

“Yeah…?” I glared at her hand suspiciously, before nervously shakes her outstretched hand. Okay, this is out of nowhere. Why is a merchant talking to Sen about me? Or why did he tell her about my circumstances? Oh crap, did he told her what I told him about the plot?!

“Um… you can stop shaking my hand now.”

I got out of my musing when I saw that I am still grasping her hand, letting go with a small nervous chuckle.

She let out a chuckle of her own before continuing speaking, “Sen and I goes way back in the day, great guy once you get to know him. Can be kind of an asshole though.”

“Hey!”

I nodded in response to her words. Now that’s something I agree with completely. He is kind of a dick for pushing me into the store like that. Sure, I HAVE to go in there, but can he at least wait for me to get my nerves BEFORE pushing me in?

“Biases aside…” Sen grumbles at this as Silvia continues on, “Sen here is actually asking me to give you guys clearance to board my ship.”

“Wait, we’re not using your boat?” I asked my mentor, he shrugs before answering. “We need a proper place to train when we’re at sea.” He explained, “The Silver Fang is quite a large merchant vessel, meaning we have enough space to do some proper exercise. Not only that, her crew are competent sailors and swimmers in their own right, meaning you can practice your wings as much as you like.”

“Okay, I guess it is logical…”

“But you don’t get to board for free. No such thing as a free lunch.” Silvia added on with a grin, “You are to work for your place on the ship. Sen is already the ship’s guard-”

“Wait, when did you-”

“-So, now we need a position for you.” She noted, but before taking a good look at me and pointing out, “You would need some new clothes first. Can’t have you walking around like rape bait on my ship. Lucky for you, I know just the place for good quality sailor wear that is both stylish AND practical!”

Why do I have a feeling that I’m not to like this one bit…?

* * *

 

“Well, what do you think?”

I would answer the captain’s question if I’m not trying to cover myself up with my hand in a futile attempt to keep some decency.

After the whole debacle at the lingerie store, Silvia whisks me and Sen to another part of town to a clothing store by the name of Neptune Sister; a cool little place a few streets down. Once inside, she went on a hunt through the bargain bins and the shelves for clothing after clothing as the both of us just stare in either shock or horror, either one fits the situation well.

Sen, being the dick-ish person he is, left immediately when she tosses a small bundle of clothes into my arms and then pushes ME into the changing room. Despite my denial for the horrendous choice of clothing, Silvia immediately took it upon herself to come in and forcefully strip and dress me, groping me in places I didn’t know was sensitive before.

In the end, I am left staring right at the mirror in horror at the outfit I was forced into as I attempt to recover some level of decency. What I am wearing right now can only be described as whore material. From the tight ripped jeans that is looks like panties to the skimpy tube top that shows off my collar and stomach and the leather high-heel sandals, I look exactly like some hooker at some red-light district!

“What I- No! I’m not wearing this!!”

“Why not? It fits you so well!” Silvia stated with a grin, “With that curvy waist and wide hips, not to mention your nicely shaped breasts-”

“I look like a whore!!”

“Which is a great distraction when you fight!” She points out, “People will be too busy leering at you to block any counters you give out!”

“This looks like it can come off just from running!!” I screamed at her, “At least let me wear some proper pants! And maybe a shirt that doesn’t look like it can be tore off with a tug! And no high heels?!” Just standing is hurting my thigh already. How my sister can wear this around and not grunt in pain with every few steps is beyond me.

“Tch. Fine…” She sighs as she walks off towards the hangers, leaving me alone in the changing booth. I let out a sigh of relief once I couldn’t see her, before I close the curtain behind me and begin to take the horrendous outfit off of me. That lady either has no idea what common decency is, or really like girls to show off their body. She definitely fit latter considering her dress code. But then again, most females in this world are styled like that. I think I saw a few ladies wearing modest versions of it a few streets down.

Robin and Nami comes to mind, along with the various amount of porn pics those two alone starred in.

Shaking my head to clear my mind of the erotic thoughts as I took off the whorish outfit, I look back at the mirror in front of me, my reflection staring right back at me with a slight blush.

Now that I have looked closely, I’m not that bad looking… my face looks like one from a young model with my shoulder-length hair framing it perfectly, my body line isn’t much of an hourglass figure Oda is infamous for drawing his characters in but it definitely has the potential to be equally sexy.

“Damn, I’m my own ideal woman…”

“Like looking at yourself?”

I flinched at the teasing tone as Silvia peeked in with a self-gratifying grin on her face, face just burns up when I realized that I have been checking myself out all this time, and she saw all of it. God, this is so embarrassing…!

“Eh, t-this is… um… I…”

“I know, I know.” She nodded with understanding, “You were a guy once, so naturally you would like to a look. Don’t worry, take your time to absorb it all in–”

“Just give me the damn outfit…”

The next outfit she had is way more covered compared to the first one, which isn’t saying much but at least I don’t look I belong at a corner of the shady alleyway.

I am now wearing a long-sleeved beige leather bolero jacket that has a high black collar with silver button, underneath it is a dark blue tube top that reaches pass my belly button to my waist with a pair of white lines running down its sides, along with a pair of dark grey pants tucked into a pair of brown leather boots and a white cloth sash around my waist.

This is definitely way better; body is neatly covered not to mention it is easy to move in, and no high-heels!

“Now THAT is a good look.” She commented with a smile, “What was I thinking, hot pants…?”

“This is pretty nice, to be honest.” I noted as I took a good look at myself in the mirror, “I might take this.”

“Good enough for me! But now that is over with…” I shivered at her tone as she took out a few bundles of clothes, “Time for formal wear~”

And that began a long series of painful force stripping and changing. Sen is SO dead when he gets back…

* * *

 

After Silvia paid for my clothes, along with a few extras that she decides to take for my sake which included a few dresses for formal as well as informal, although depends on the situation it could be either one, we left the store just as Sen is coming back; in his hands is a long-wrapped rod that he balances on his shoulders. “Huh? You finally finished?”

“You left me there, you jerk!!” I screamed at him angrily. Twice. He did this TWICE! And this one isn’t even like the last one! He could’ve just waited outside, maybe give a few opinions here and there!

“I… take it you’ve seen how… _aggressive_ Silvia can be at this.” He stated with a sheepish smile, “Trust me, if I am in there, it would be a lot worse.”

“I don’t see how it could be worse.”

“And you would never know, thanks to me.”

“Grr…”

“What that thing you got there?” Silvia decides to ask ignoring my growling.

“Oh, this old thing?” He taps his shoulder with it a few times, “Something I left someone here to care for, that I took back.”

“You rob him of it?”

“No! I’m not THAT barbaric.” Sen stated with a scowl, “I merely asked for it back. Nothing else. Pay him a decent price for it too.”

“Ah, that make sense.” She nodded with understanding, “What is it?”

“It’s Rein’s weapon.” My anger dissipates a little when I heard that, “Rein’s going to need something to defend herself with, and the only way I know how to fight with are my fists and a sword. So, while you guys were busy, I went off to fetch this.”

“A sword?” I muttered in surprise. I know I’m the one that asked him to train me, but I thought it was just hand-to-hand, not swordsmanship.

“Hey, if you know how to be decent with a sword, you’ll be set at sea.” He explained, “Sure, you can get pistols, but they are a pain to reload; not to mention miss once and you are a goner.” I’ll have to agree with him for that one. Pistols may be handy in a pinch, but in a fight, it would be suicidal considering the most powerful and infamous are more close-quarters than snipers. And a sword would give me a decent advantage over my knife…

“You can explain the advantages of using a sword back on the ship.” Silvia tells us, “Come on, the harbour is this way.”

* * *

 

A few streets later, we arrived at what I assume is the Silver Fang. Sen is right about the size, it’s pretty huge.

A large vessel at least ten times the size of Sen’s little boat, what I assume is a frigate with a single row of cannons on each side, three large masts with large white sails flying a simple white flag. It is painted in whitish-hue of blue with a strip of darkish grey on the cannon row, on its bow is a ram shaped like a two long tusks.

“Here it is, my pride and joy.” Silvia says with pride in her voice, “The great Silver Fang. One of the fastest ships in this part of the sea and more.”

“It’s pretty big…”

“Most merchant ships are.” Sen explained.

“Come on aboard.” The ship’s captain tells us as we board the ship via the wooden ramp provided. The large deck is completely crowded with people of all kinds, most of them male sailors as stereotypical of them with few females wandering about, all of them busing themselves with the operations of the ship. From checking the ropes, to moving supplies, to even just climbing up the masts, everyone is hard at work.

“We’re heading off now?” Sen asks her.

“Yup. Just finished trading off some goods at the market. You’ll be surprised how much people pay for good seafood around here.”

“Riza?”

“You know it.” She smirks, “Best in the East Blue. I’ve made a deal with their fishers to sell their goods for a good price.”

“You’ve definitely been busy the last I’ve saw you.” He points out.

“Had to pay the men somehow.”

The two started talking about goods and the competitive market, leaving me to just look around the deck and observe the sailors do their work. Everyone looks so in the rush, people are constant in motion, coming out from below deck or entering it with countless voices all speaking at once.

Man, no wonder old time sailors are so buff. All this manual labour definitely builds up muscles faster than going to a gym. I wonder if I’ll be able to keep up. I barely able to help out with the rig on Sen’s little dingy and now there are pulleys and ropes for sails I do not know about. Hopefully these people aren’t the sexist type.

“Hey, captain!”

A voice broke me out of my thoughts, a man walks up to us with a few sheets of paper at hand. He has long black hair tied to in a tail behind him in a stripped t-shirt over alternating white and blue with dark brown pants and leather shoes with a red bandana tied around his neck.

“Oh, Lee. You got the papers?”

“Yup.” He affirmed handing the papers to her, letting the captain skim through it as she absent-mindedly wanders off. That leaves him with us as he starts to have a conversation, “Sen, my man, good to see you again. Back for another job?”

“Pretty much. Got help this time, though.”

The man named Lee turned to me, I flinched at his gaze as he seems to scanned me up and down the way Silvia did. “I don’t know… not to sound sexist or anything, but she doesn’t look like she fit on a sailor crew. She’s way too skinny, not to mention she’s a midget…”

Did that fucker just call me midget?! I know I’m not the tallest guy around but I’m no MIDGET!!

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET!!” Lost in my vengeful rage, I launched myself right at him and tackles him to the ground. There, I took the chance to slam my fist into his face as hard as I could as muster, which is surprisingly way harder that I thought I could as I barely misses his head and my fist splinters the wooden plank it hits.

Silence dominated the ship, my rage immediately cools off as I could only stare at the splintered plank in complete shock of what just conspired. Did I just… did that…? Did I just break a plank with my fist?

“Rein. Look at your hand.”

I followed Sen’s instruction as I pulls back my fist, the back of my hand and forearm has the similar reptilian skin I have in my half-human state. Did I just subconsciously call forth my Devil Fruit powers? Oh my god, was I about to kill that guy?!

“Zoan Devil Fruits are known to be the weakest compared to the other categories.” He noted, “But they are most simple to use. Almost too simple. Transformations can happen without the user’s conscious choice.”

“Oh boy… remind me to never make you mad again…” Lee grunted from under me, “One hell of a tackle that was, kid.”

“I’m twenty, you know…” I grumbled. One thing I am annoyed from my reincarnation besides my gender is that my height almost never changed at all. I am always on the short side even when I am a guy, so my classmates made fun of me about it all the damn time. Had a few bullies growing up due to it too… that is until I showed them why you shouldn’t be doing that.

“If you don’t mind getting off me now… that would be greatly appreciated.”

I blinked at the problem, before remembering that I am still straddling him to the ground; I got back up and helping him to his feet, “Sorry for that. Kind of lost it a little…”

“He kind of deserved it, though!” One of them members shouted out.

“Oh, shut it, Ivan!” Lee shouted back.

“Hey, girl!” Another random sailor shouts out with a wave, “Welcome aboard the Silver Fang!”

“If you want a tour of the ship, I’m available!”

“Dude! You just met her!”

“Keep your pants on, you horny bastard!”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!”

“Damn it, Sen! Where did you find such a lady?!”

“Hey Sen, old chum! Introduce us!”

One after another, the sailors all started shouting out their welcomes. I am stunned silent at the overwhelming hospitality of the crew. I’ve always assumed most sailors in this era is mostly sexist males with a few minor exceptions, but I guess I was proven wrong. It’s almost embarrassing to hear all this…

“Alright, you salty dogs! That’s enough of that!” Silvia shouted out with a few loud claps, “We are on a schedule with deals to make and contracts to fulfil! Ivan!” Said sailor stood in attention, “Check with the cargo. Make sure they are all accounted for and fastened down below deck properly.”

“Understood, Captain!”

“Everyone else, prep for sail. We are leaving in fifteen minutes, so I want everything to be done by then, am I clear?!”

“Yes Captain, ma’am!”

“Good. Carry on! Oh! And Lee, stay for a minute.” And the bustling returned with a fury as everyone returned to their task with a passion. Silvia turned to us gesturing to the man from before, “This is Lee, my quartermaster and second-in-command. Lee, you know Sen. And I believed you are introduced to Rein?”

“If that’s what you want to call it…” He mumbled.

“Sen is back as the ship’s guard, while the little girl here is his apprentice. They both will function on the guard posts and occasional other posts as you see fit. If there are any problems with them, let me know.” She tells him smile, “I have some papers to go through, so I’ll leave it to you for the grand tour.”

“Copy that.” He nods in acknowledgement, his captain then walks away and entering the door facing the deck. Guess that’s the captain’s quarters. Good to know.

“I doubt Sen needs the tour…” I hear him said before turning to face us, “Well, come along. I’ll show you around.

* * *

 

A few minutes of him showing us where the living quarters are and our shared room, the kitchen and mess hall, the cargo hull, as well as the bathhouse allocated by genders, and we are back on deck where he finally explains our duties as ship guards. Which the title already is self-explanatory.

All we have to do to patrol the ship during the day and keep a watch at night. Simple enough.

As of why we are on the deck…

“Hoist the anchor! Lower the sails!”

It is time to depart. Me and Sen are left to watch from the sides as everyone all rushes about the deck with a few going below and others climbing up the ropes to the sails. The entire boat is a complete storm of people running all over with shouting of orders left and right.

It took a while, but soon enough, the sails caught the winds and the Silver Fang took off into the wide-open oceans. I could stare in awe as the port slowly disappears from view, within a few minutes later the island is just a small spot over the horizon.

My heart starts to pound against my chest with excitement as I look out towards the bright blue horizon, where dusk is setting in and the sun is slowly descending into twilight. Is this how it feels to depart to the open oceans, to adventure and parts unknown? Is this how Luffy felt every time the Straw Hats leave an island for the next big adventure?

“Pretty exciting, isn’t it?” Silvia broke me out of my own musing with a bright grin on her face, “Of course, unless you are like me and these guys who are used to it all. But the first time setting sail are always the most exciting. Every sailor experienced it, the feeling of a great voyage and adventure.”

“Adventure…” I mutter out as the word resonates in my mind. Back home, back when I am still a student, that word is the last thing on my mind. It’s always juggling homework with final year assignments along with prepping for tests and exams in the future. Everyday was a constant rush of repeating schedules over and over again.

Maybe that’s why One Piece has always been a big appeal to me. The adventures Luffy and the Straw Hats are so bigger than life that at times I want to feel the same excitement they did every time they came across a new island on the Grand Line, to be beside them all.

“Captain!” Lee calls out from the helm, bringing me out of my musings yet again, “Loguetown is out of sight now! And no marine ships in sight!”

“Okay, lower it down!”

“Wait, what?” I turned to her confused, “Lower the anchor?”

“Nah, it’s something else.” She tells me as I witness a random sailor lowering something into the waters below, “You see, we have one other crewmate that is a _little_ … different.”

“First I’ve heard of this.” Sen points out as my curiosity keep rising to no end. Who is this mysterious crewmate that need such a strange calling method?

A loud splash later, followed by a spray of water on my face, and my answer has arrived.

And let me say this, I did not expect this at all.

“Sen, Rein, I like you to meet Kris.” She smiles as she gestures the fishman that has landed on the boat via the ocean.

…What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Took my quite a while to write this out, but I manage to do just that! Sorry for the long wait, life appeared as well as a few writing blocks here and there…
> 
> Now for those who have read the original story; yes, this chapter completely different compared to the original. For starters, Smoker and Tashigi does no make an appearance. And second, it is a lot longer compared to the original.
> 
> I also like to introduce some new OCs I have created for this reboot. Silvia and the crew of the Silver Fang! Now that Rein has DF powers now, the usual pattern of training from the original will not work, so I decided to create them.
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!


	4. The Fishman

I barely dodges the strike before I took a few steps back, my bamboo sword facing forward as I try to catch my breath. Sen stood opposite of me with the same practice weapon which he held slack on his side with his free hand on his hip along with that stupid grin on his face, “Tired already? We barely started.”

Well, I have several bruises under my shirt that indicates otherwise…

It has been at least a week since the Silver Fang left Loguetown and began its voyage on the open waters on a course to Port Riza. From what I gathered from the other sailors and have read on my guidebook, Port Riza is a fishing village turned port located on what was considered the geographical center of the entire East blue, where its main industry is… fishing, duh. My guess is that Silvia is heading there via a contract from them, something about being able to ship their seafood.

Maybe that’s what all those crates below deck were for. I was wondering why they smell so fishy…

That aside, the first day out in sea is also the official start of my training with Sen. He didn’t show me the sword he got for me just yet, explaining that I need to at least learn some basic moves as well as increase my overall physique to better learn said moves.

And that started a regime of spartan exercising and combat training.

On the very first day, he has been run all around the deck ragged all morning until breakfast which is then followed up by making me run all over the deck again but this time in my half-dragon form that ends with training my TAIL of all things till lunchtime, and then after that it’s a quick sparring match which leads to bruises all over and a proper shiner on my right eye followed by several cardio workouts while still bruised until dinner, then it ends with another sparring match but with my fists instead, before I just fell unconscious either from sheer exhaustion or a good hit from him.

Rinse and repeat for the rest of the week with a few exceptions during my night shifts.

Trust me, it is not something I want anyone to experience. I never thought it would be possible to get sore muscles on muscles that do not exist! It is exhausting to a point during meal times I nearly vomited everything out the moment I ate a spoonful, which is a real shame considering that the cook on this ship is pretty good with the job. Not a five-star chef, but good enough to not feel like army food.

Trust me. Service food aren’t the worst, but they aren’t that good either.

I am knocked out of my musing, literally, when Sen somehow cross the distance between us and slams the tip of his sword into my nose hard, so hard that I actually hear it break with a disgusting crunch. Not a good sound to hear, I tell you that…

“Oohh…” I moaned in pain as I lay on the ground crutching my now bent nose.

“Keep your head in the fight, Rein.” He scolded me as he taps the tip of his bamboo sword on my temple, “If this is a real blade, you’ll get worse than a broken nose.”

“Yeuh, I can siu tuat…”

“Ten minutes break, then its push-ups. Hundred.” He explained, as he walks off.

I groaned out as I sat up, the feeling of my aching bones and bruises still dominating my senses along with the overpowering smell of blood. Damn it, the nose again?! He keeps aiming there! I can deal with a black eye, but broken noses are a pain to fix, not to mention really painful.

“Need a hand?”

I blinked out a few tears from my eyes as Kris enters my vision. I visibly flinched from his sudden appearance, before I let out a small cough and nodded in reply. The fishman’s webbed hand held onto my nose and with a firm pull, cracks my nose back into place with a whine of pain from me.

“T-Thanks…”

“…No problem…” He stated before walking away.

You know, when I heard that I’m going to be helping Sen on a merchant ship, I was half-expecting to get at least one sexist sailor scoffing and messing with me. Obviously, that is not the case with how friendly they have been if a little pervy with their catcalls and peeking incidents during the week, which all were settled immediately by the female staff on board. I never thought an arm could bend so far before breaking until now…

But of all the things I expect, I would have never expected to meet a fishman before Arlong.

Kris is a Moray Eel fishman, with greyish scale-like skin and sharp teeth, dark green hair styled like a bundle of seaweed and sharp white eyes (and no, he is not blind.). He is often seen shirtless with an exception of a shoulder pad that covers the entire right shoulder along with yellow spotted shorts and leather sandals.

He’s… strange…

From what I can see, he is pretty friendly with the others, I even see him crack a smile a few times when he talks to Sen. But when it comes to me, he almost never tries to engage a conversation with me. He usually just greets me and then walks away. I mean, he didn’t even give me a chance to greet him back! Who does that?

He doesn’t seem to hate me though… He had given me a helping hand a few times, but left once I thanked him.

Remember when I said I knocked out on the first day of training? Well, when I came to the next morning, I was in my own room. Next to the bed on the floor is a cup of weird liquid along with a note that is saying to drink the juice, that it is good for me. Being the gullible idiot that I am, I drank it and regretted it immediately. If Devil Fruit is the most horrible thing I have the displeasure of tasting, that ‘juice’ is a close second.

Later I found out that it was Kris who brought me to my room, and apparently, he also made that juice for me as well.

After that, he seems to always be around whenever I am training, just there in the background in the corner of my vision. And then after training, he would then walk off again. Or at times he would offer a helping hand, usually with bruises and injuries all that.

So yeah, his stand on me is a complete mystery.

“All right! Breaktime is over! Back to training!”

I decide to think about it later as I prepare for the next set spartan exercises.

* * *

 

That night at dinner-time, I barely manage to made it to the mess hall, or galley as Sen has politely corrected me a few times but I’m sticking with mess hall as it feels right. My arms are sore from all the push-ups and head is pounding like a jackhammer at my brain and my throat feels like the Sahara from how dry it is. It has been a full week, and I’m already sick of his training.

Although, I am getting better at it now. Used to faint right after. Now I can actually feel the soreness in my limps.

I collapsed right on the first open table I come across, dropping my head on to the wooden top with a loud thud. I am completely exhausted! When I thought of training, this spartan hell isn’t exactly what I had in mind…

“Hey there lass. Sen still working you to the bone, eh?”

I raised my head up lazily, Gord came to view with a smile and two bowls of steaming stew at hand.

Gord is a rather slim middle-aged man with a shaved head and a nasty burnt scar on the right side of his face above his dark brown eyes, often seen wearing a white button-up shirt with short sleeves tucked into a pair of faded blue slacks and brown leather shoes with a bandana tied to his left wrist. He is this ship’s cook, and a mighty good one at that.

He is also one of the first people I befriended on this ship.

It was the second morning of the voyage, I have just fainted from the hell training Sen has brought up and woke up back in my own room. Ivan immediately enters with a plate of hot steaming food (With that ‘juice’ that Kris made for me), greeting me and serving me my breakfast in bed. As I ate, me and him chatted up quite a bit and hit off quite well.

Apparently, Gord here is actually an ex-marine, one who was discharged for treason. According to him, the Captain in-charge of the marine base is rotten to the core, to the point that he has accepted bribes from pirate captains to keep quiet about them, and then using said money for his own pleasure and consumption.

He, being a humble Petty Officer at the time, decided to file a report of said corruption to the higher-ups. But he was caught writing said report, which then the Captain re-wrote it to one that inducts him as a traitor that sold patrol plans and even private marine codes to pirates and bandits for cash.

He got the discharge letter the very next day.

Out of the service, he later found out about the Silver Fang, who was hiring a cook at the time, which he applied immediately. And the rest is history.

When I asked if he wanted payback at the marine captain, he just laughed and told me that he has moved on from it all. He doesn’t care about revenge, as he knows that that stupid captain would get karmic punishment soon enough. Though, when I asked for the captain’s name out of pure curiosity, I was shocked to find out it was fucking Nezumi of all people.

I mentally noted to remind myself to get involved into the Arlong arc, just to have the pleasure of beating that rat up.

After that morning, he and I often meet during mealtimes, as I usually the last one to arrive, where we just talked about the random topics, often about a few past shenanigans the crew has encountered in the past. I even asked for a cooking lesson from him, which he declined as he didn’t want to add to my already full schedule.

“Yup. But the good news is that I didn’t faint this time.” I points out with a tired thumbs-up, “Now I just have to get used to the sores…”

He chuckles as he places the two bowls down, “Here you go. Today is fish and vegetables stew.” I took the bowl and starts eating one spoonful at a time. Yup, as delicious as always!

“So,” He sits opposite me and starts eating too, “Saw you up there. That was one heck of a bruiser you got.”

“That it was…” I swallowed before continuing, “I could still feel the pain too. Thank the heavens I was able to pull it back in place before it set.”

“Yeah, thank god for that.” He noted, “Although, a broken nose would put a stop to Sam’s flirting.”

“It would, but at the cost of not breathing too well…? Not a good trade-off.”

Sam is referring to the ship’s Helmsman, Samerson Butler; a rather flirty individual. He is always with one of the few ladies on board, the ones that worked in the kitchen as well as the medical ward, and often or not is sleeping with any one of them. He even pulled a few moves at me, which I gladly ignored due to either to tired from training to bother with him or that the lines he chooses are so goddamn cheesy that I have to walk away to laugh to save him some dignity. Could never figure out what the women on this boat sees in him.

Might be due to the fact that he is actually quite good-looking, with a face that screams prince-charming as well as flowing locks of black hair. Or that he seems to have quite a libido that drove all the women wet just thinking about it, as the gossips go anyway…

But honestly, for a flirty person, he actually not a bad person. He is a competent helmsman, one of the damn best if his boasting contains any truth in it, and for all that flirting he actually cares for the women he slept with, if the gossips of him being a sexy therapist hold water anyway…

Still damn cheesy with his pick-up lines though.

“You know, mentioning broken noses…” Gord starts just as I place another spoonful into my mouth, “How are things with Kris?”

“As much as you expect, I’m afraid…”

“So, quiet and awkward.”

“Yes.”

The cook chuckles at that as I let out a small sigh, “I just don’t get it! It feels like he hates me, but then he helps me so it can’t be it. Then he mostly ignores me all the damn time or just stand there not saying anything before disappearing again! Like, what gives?!”

“Kris has always been awkward, even with the captain.” He points out to me, “Give it time, he’ll open up to you.”

“It’s just…” I grumbles as I took another spoonful of stew into my mouth, “He’s always around me, you know?”

“Trust me, everyone on the crew is awkward around him at first. It’s the usual for newcomers, even if said newcomer is a… well, you know.”

That actually has been swirling in my head for a while now. WHY is Kris on this ship in the first place? From what I remember from the manga, the only fishmen in the East Blue to anyone knowledge are the Arlong Pirates, but they are currently holed up in the Conomi Islands being evil dictators. So why is one on a merchant ship like this one?

“Oh, hey, Kris.”

And speak of the devil, here he is.

I glanced over to another table, where Kris is just sitting down with his own bowl of steaming stew.

Hm… Maybe I should…

“Rein?”

“Be right back.”

I pick up my bowl and walks over to the lone fishman eating his meal. Okay, Rein, time to break the ice. It should be easy, just sit down and struck a conversation. Just remember to not stare at his scales.

Or fins.

Or gills.

Or sharp teeth that looks like it can tear my flesh asunder-

“Do you need something?”

I blinked in confusion before realizing that I am already sitting down at the same table directly opposite of him, Kris staring right at me in a raised eyebrow. Wait, did I just walked here and sit down while in my thoughts…? That is… peculiar…

“Oh! J-Just… well… I just want to sit here, that’s all…”

He seems to buy my excuse, giving me a shrug before resuming his meal. Great job, Rein. Now it’s all awkward between us again. You had one job!

Sighing, resume back my meal, the stew not as tasty as before.

“…Also, despite their appearance, I cannot tear into your flesh with my teeth.”

…Yup. Awkward…

* * *

 

The lookout let out yawn as he stares into the horizon in the crow’s nest, his short brown undercut hair blowing in the salty sea wind.

He originally is glad that he ended up on the first watch of the day as that means he doesn’t get cleaning duty that morning, but after the first hour, he is starting to regret it. The crow’s nest isn’t that big for much leg movement, so he has to bent his knees real close if he wants to sit down, which isn’t very comfortable.

He’s starting to feel his legs getting numb when it past the first thirty minutes mark.

Not to mention, there isn’t much to keep a lookout for. Of course, pirates are everywhere for the past decade or so, but they haven’t encountered one whole week. And he doubted that they would encounter one now, especially with them closing in to one of the few marine patrol routes in the area.

“I’m starting to think of volunteering for toilet duty might have been a better option…”

It was right when he mutters that out that he saw something in the distance. A dot at first, but being the proper lookout that he is, he takes out his trusty binoculars to take a better look. A slight zoom in at it reveals its identity.

A ship, one that looks armed to the teeth with cannons on each side. It even looks like it has a cannon at its bow, which kind of looks like a large snake’s head. And its sails look-

He nearly dropped the binoculars in horror when he saw the black sail and flag, not to mention the infamous skull-and-crossbones that decorated them. And he knows exactly who that is! Of all the pirate crews, why it has to the one which a bounty?!

“PIRATES!! PIRATES OFF THE STARBOARD SIDE!!”

With his loud scream, the entire crew below burst into action. Those that are not combat trained flee below deck to the designated saferoom. Those that are, immediately armed themselves. Rifles, pistols and muskets are all issued out, those who are at least decent with it are wielding cutlasses among the assortment of swords they have.

Even Silvia is armed and ready, in her hand is a long wooden rod with metal fittings at the end along with leather wrappings in the middle of it covering a good third of the entire thing.

“Are they named?” She asked.

“Yes. Galley Pirates, led by the infamous Crescent-Moon Galley of 5 million bounty fame.” Lee addresses, twirling two flintlock pistols in his hands.

“Great, we have a million on our tail…” She groaned, “Sam! Keep the ship on its course!”

“Aye-aye, captain!” He called out from the helm.

Cannon-fire is head and an explosion soon rang out into the ocean dangerously close to them, blasting out seawater into the air that rains down on them. That is soon followed by another, and another, and soon it is raining cannonballs all around them.

“If we’re lucky, we’ll run into one of the marine patrol ships before they reach us. Where’s Sen?”

“No idea! I last saw him running for the bathroom before any of this!”

“Damn it! Just when we need him the most!!”

* * *

 

Cannon-fire can be heard as I rush through the corridor with my bamboo sword at hand. I nearly lost my balance when the boat suddenly rocks from the aftereffect of the cannon shot coming really close to smashing into the side of it.

I was stupid to have forgotten this little tip-bit of this world. That it is in the era in which blood-thirty pirates roam the seas, plundering ships and slaughtering people left and right! So, OF COURSE we are going to get under attack by some random pirate in the open sea!!

And it HAS to happen during breakfast!!

I know Sen can take care of them no problem, but he left with an upset stomach and is never seen again for a long while. Which in turn leaves this ship utterly defenceless. I know that there are people who are trained to fight on this ship, if the armoury Lee shows us on the first day indicates anything at all, but I’m not confident that they could deal with pirates, especially with how tough even the weaker ones are in the manga.

And if that’s the case, there is no way I’m running and hiding! I’m the part of the ship’s guard too, damn it! No way I’m abandoning my duty now!

I slam the door open as every armed sailor on the deck to face me in either surprised shock or horror.

“What are you doing up here?!” Lee yelled at me, “You should be in the saferoom!”

“Well, you’re not making me hide!” I shouted back as I stomps onto the deck, “Remember, I’m the ship’s guard too!”

“But-”

“Leave it for now.” Silvia tells him, “They caught up.”

Everyone shut their mouth as we soon saw the large ship coming close to us, a familiar looking ship that seems to ring some bells. I know that ship, didn’t it belong to that one-off pirate from that one shot? What was his name again…? Something moustache…? It has something to do with the moon, if I recall correctly…

“Ahoy there!” A loud boisterous voice shouts out, we all taking the figure that stood on the railing with a cutlass at hand and a very arrogant smirk on his weird moustache’s face, “We are the Galley Pirates! I am the great Crescent Moon Galley, and I’m here for your precious loot!”

Oh yeah! I remember now! Galley, from that OVA!

Man, he has a really weird moustache…

Then, silence suddenly filled the air to my confusion. I looked at each of my crewmates to see their pale faces or just plain shocked expressions as well as the gaping mouth of Galley on the opposite ship. I think I saw Gord face-palming somewhere in there.

Wait, did I say that out loud?

…Oops.

“Who has a weird moustache, huh?!” Galley shouts out angrily, “That’s it! For that, we aren’t taking any prisoners today! We’re slaughtering everyone here today!” The pirates around him cheers with murderous glee.

“Thanks a lot, Rein.” I hear Lee groan as I nervously chuckled to it. I really need to remember to not voice out my thoughts…

“MEN! KILL THEM ALL!”

“RAAAAHH!!”

“Don’t die, everyone!” Silvia commanded, “We are in the patrol route now, so we just have to stall until the marines show up!”

“Right!”

The fight begins as the pirates from the other ship leaped and swing onto the deck with sabers and cutlasses drawn to kill, our group rushing to meet them mid-point with those with firearms providing cover fire from behind.

I’m left stuck frozen on the spot when the firearms fired at the pirates, some manages to hit a few that were swinging over to them with blood spurting out of the bullet wounds before dropping down to the watery abyss below. Blades spark when they collide, blood flew when one struck their target. I was completely lost on what to do.

I came up on deck wanting to help, and here I am stuck frozen not knowing what to do! Come on, Rein! Move! Do something! Anything!

“You’re wide-opened!”

I turned to see a cutlass swinging down at me, I reacting by blocking it with my bamboo sword which it cuts into its fake blade. My eyes reflect off the pirate’s hungry eyes as he pushes forward towards me with me trying to push him away, but that is futile as he seems to have a more strength that I do.

With a great huff, I manages to twist my body a bit and with a new leverage got out of the blade lock I had with him. I took a breath when the pirate come back towards me and slashes at me, I barely able to move out of the way before his hand reaches out and grab me by my jacket’s collar. “You’re not going anywhere, young lady.” He snickers as he raises his sword up to slice at me.

That’s when a large splash from behind me and a wet fist smashes right into the man’s face, sending him flying across the deck and hitting the mast where he lays slack at the bottom of it.

I blinked for a moment, before turning my head to meet my saviour, one eel fishman who had his fist outstretched before he reels it back to his side. He turned to face me with a nod with a small smile before rushing back into the fray. I blinked before remembering what I was supposed to be doing before rushing back to the fight.

I paused when I saw the cutlass from the pirate before on the floor, looking back at my bamboo sword that has two thick grooves embedded into the round blade that looks flimsy from it before making up my mind and tossing it aside, picking up the fallen weapon before rushing back in.

There wasn’t much for me to do, to be honest. Most of the pirates seem to be heavily wounded from the conflict, but we have equally bad casualties. I saw Lee nursing a bullet wound to his arm while Gord has part of his clothes sliced open with a few cuts decorating his body. However, luck seems to be on our side as the pirates seem to be getting pushed back. Silvia is currently going toe-to-toe with Galley himself, which basically means he is getting his shit wrecked as he barely is fighting back.

Silvia is practically toying with him at this point as she spins her pole around her and keeps smacking and poking into the pirate captain who could only take the blows once I saw her disarmed him in one smooth swoop of her weapon. Looks like Silvia is up there in badass-status along with Luffy, Zoro and Sanji.

“You know, I was almost afraid of you guys.” Silvia mocks the wanted man with a smile, “But I guess the bounty doesn’t really mean much now, is it?”

“Damn you…” The captain growls before getting the tip of the pole smashed into his nose hard.

I nearly feel sorry for him with how brutal he is getting beaten. Silvia really knows how to beat people up without killing them.

Then, I saw something that prompts me to move into action immediately. One of the pirates has a gun pointed at her and she is none the wiser. Doesn’t looked like anyone else notices it besides me, so I decided to act. Before I know it, I have my sword’s tip aimed at him and I thrusted. A sudden explosion from the pirate’s ship rocks both vessels, which causes me to tumble a bit instead of thrusting into him, I instead stab into his thigh instead.

He let out a loud scream in pain as I let go of the weapon and stumbles a bit backward with the ship still rocking and all. I fall on my butt while my victim is clutching his wound with the sword sticking out of it. The blade has gone right through, the tip is poking out of the other side.

“D-Damn bitch!!” He growls as he raises his flintlock and aims his barrel right towards me, “Die!”

I felt my heart stop for a moment as the trigger is pulled, a loud bang is heard as I saw the black lead round is speeding right towards me. Time seems to slow to a halt as my past week speeds through my mind. The training, the interactions with the crew, all of it I recollected before I felt a sharp pain on my forehead.

“REIN!!”

I heard the other scream my name as I felt my head jerked upwards and I fall onto the deck. Ah, I’m dead again, aren’t I? Well, this is anti-climactic. To die just a week after reincarnation, must be a new record somewhere. But unlike last time, I can still hear the sounds of gunfire, of screaming and people just shouting out my name.

“Rein, lass. Don’t you dare die on me!”

Huh? Was that Gord?

“Give it up, Gord! She is dead!”

“No way! She is not dead!”

“She got shot in the head! No one can survive that!”

Wait, something’s not right. I’m dead, right? So why can I still hear people talking? Why can I still feel the wooden deck on my back? Not only that, why isn’t my vision darkening or something? I twitch my finger, still feeling a connection to my body to my surprise, and probably Gord’s as well from the gasp I just heard.

“Rein…?”

“Hm…” I slowly got back up, blinked a few times at the cook’s dumbfounded face, “Huh? I’m… okay…?”

“Holy mother of all oysters!!” The guy next to Gord scream out in shock, “How did you survive that?! You were shot between the eyes!”

I blinked at his question, before feeling something ledged on my forehead. Scratching that area, something pops out and a small lead ball drops and rolls about in front of me. Wait, did the bullet just got lodged in my skull?!

“Oh my god, are bones made of steel or something?!”

I ignored that question as I feel my forehead, the area that got hit by the bullet is still dent in, still bleeding from the blood on my fingertips. Okay, this is… something. Did the reincarnation did something else to my body?

“Hey, you got horns now! Like when you are in your dragon mode.” Gord pointed out.

Horns? I feel the top of my head, sure enough the horns are present. Did I… change form without even realizing it? If that’s the case, then my dragon skin must have been super strong to withstand a gunshot like that! Good to know that I’m essentially bulletproof in my half-dragon form now!

Then I remember our predicament, “Wait, the pirates! What happened to them?!”

“Glad to see you are well.”

Sen’s voice calls out, he walking up to me with hands on his hips, “Scared me there for a bit, you know. I wasn’t sure if your dragon skin could be penetrated by bullets. Now we know.”

“Where were you?!” I shouted at him, “We needed you minutes ago!!”

“Toilet.” He explained, “I really had to go.”

“Seriously?!”

“But you can reassure about the pirates.” He stated pointing behind him. I followed his finger to see a marine warship coming into view. Looks like me made it! Thank god for that!!

I can see the pirates all standing there in pure horror with what is going to happen, before some of them start booking it back to their ship. Galley tries to tell them to stop, only to be interrupted when a figure lands on the railing of his ship.

It is a lone man, one with a marine cap over his well-combed black hair and is wearing a white jacket left open to show his bandaged chest with a pair of standard marine uniform pants and boots. In his hand is long spear, its long blade shaped like a harpoon’s tip with bandages the middle of the rod and at the end is a sharp metal bulb.

“You guys aren’t leaving anywhere.” He tells them as he readies his spear.

The pirates all froze, his words all spoke of truth as the tip of his weapon is dangerously close to one of their comrade’s neck. They all raises their hands up in surrender as weapons and guns are all dropped onto the deck. Galley is stunned silent, with Silvia took full advantage of and slams her weapon onto his head, knocking him out.

With that, my first fight at sea is over.

* * *

 

“Well, it looks okay…”

I am looked over by our ship’s doctor, one Dr Justin; a tall albino woman with long ash-white hair that has black highlights on the bangs and red eyes in a purple blouse and black skirt under her white lab coat. And yes, Justin is a man’s name.

She is currently on deck with her nurses who are busy treating the other wounded sailors, Lee and Silvia included. The marines that arrived just a few moments ago are busy rounding up the pirates and escorting them to the brig. Got to say, the East Blue’s marines are often depicted in the manga as corrupt or just cannon fodder for either the Straw Hats or the villains. Seeing them actually doing what they are meant to do really opened my eyes about this world. That this world is not a manga, but real life. Although nearly dying the third time really hammer that fact in real tight.

Justin raises two fingers in front of me and ask, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“…Two…?”

“Ah, so no brain damage then.” She noted, “Good. Then you are perfectly fine. God to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen someone survive a gunshot to the head like this before.”

“I’m as surprised as you are.” I stated, “But how did I transform without meaning to?”

“Survival instinct, I suppose.”

I shrugged at the remark before getting up and looking. None of us are dead, thank the gods for that, but the injured are numerous and their wounds are pretty serious for the most part.

Gunshot wounds, slashes, there’s this one guy that is practically holding his intestines in, and missing fingers, a whole lot of missing fingers.

All of this really hit me hard, the fact that the pirate threats are a lot dangerous than I originally thought. If this is because of some low ranked bounty pirate… I’m afraid to think about those who are considered the top like Arlong and even Buggy. Would I even survive meeting them?

“You doing okay?”

I nearly jump when Kris of all people came to talk to me. Oh yeah, he saved me back there, didn’t he?

“Yeah. I’m fine, for the most part…” I tell him, “And… thanks for the save back there.”

“Don’t mention it.” He stated before walking off. Oh no! Not this time!

“Kris, wait!” I call out to him, he stopping and turning back towards me, “Why did you save me? I mean, you and I, we aren’t exactly…”

“You are a member on this ship’s crew.” He explains, “And crewmates help each other out.”

“Ooookay…?” I raised my eyebrow a little, “But why aren’t you talking to me much then? You seem to talk to the others fine.”

“You seem scared of me.”

Wait, what? “What makes you think that?”

“When we first met.” He stated, “You seems uncomfortable when you saw me.”

Hold on! You mean he thinks that I’m afraid of him from that?! Oh my god, did I really seem that insensitive?!

“Kris, I’m not afraid of you!” I tell him, his eyes widen a little, “Sure, you aren’t… well… I was going somewhere with this but now I’m not sure… But! I’m not scared of you! Never have been, never will! So stop distancing yourself from me! Okay?”

“…Of course.” He smiled as he walks up to me, raising his hand up in a good gesture for a handshake, “I’m Kris.”

“…Rein.” I smiled as I grabbed onto his hand.

I think this might be a start of a new friendship.

…

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! Finally! I finished it! God, it took forever to write this… But here I am, finished!
> 
> So yes. Kris, the Moray Eel Fishman. To be honest, I wasn’t actually planning for a fishman to be part of the crew, but the more I think about it, more opportunity for story development came up so I went with it!
> 
> And for Galley, I originally wanted to have another random one-off pirate to fight, but I remember him and the rest is history. Got to admit, he made for a great cannon fodder.
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!
> 
> For those who might not have known, I have made another fic that I would be working on parallel to this fic.
> 
> It is a BNHA fic by the name of [Fastest Hero Academia], another SIOC story but reincarnation this time.


	5. Riza

“Welcome to Riza, everyone!”  
  
I looked out from beyond the railing, taking the amazing sight in front of me. After two full days of sailing with a marine escort, the Silver Fang finally reaches its destination.  
  
After the whole incident with the Galley Pirates, the marines agreed to escorting us the remaining part our voyage in case more daring pirates shows up. And also, they need our statements and witness reports down at the base to sent the captured pirates their proper way to prison.  
  
Got to say, seeing actual non-corrupted competent marines is still boggling my mind. It’s like everything I know about this world is turn upside down.  
  
That aside, when we reach Port Riza, I took the first chance of a break I get to take in the amazing sights of the fishing port.  
  
Riza is a pretty large port, at least half the size of Loguetown. Its buildings made of white concrete with blue roofs with a few exceptions here and there, different coloured flags decorate the streets and doors. The stalls by the docks are completely packed with people, housewives, other traders, etc; the stalls themselves are packed to the brim with all sorts of assorted seafood, from the humble cod to fresh sea breams.  
  
There is also an enormous white building at the background, one flying the blue seagull flag of the marines with cannons pointing outwards facing the docks, and us. That must be the marine base of this port.  
  
“Quite a beauty, isn’t it?” Silvia pointed out.  
  
“It is.” I nodded. Got to admit, it’s pretty exciting to be in a new place. It’s like I’m a kid again!  
  
“As much as we love to have you admire our humble town, I’m afraid you guys know the drill.”  
  
A booming voice from behind calls out from behind us, the captain of the marine vessel standing right behind us with arms on his hips.  
  
He is Captain Lewis Strongheart, aged at least in his forties. He has a brown buzzcut with a scar on his left temple and dark grey eyes along with scruffy beard on his square jawline, dressed in a marine captain jacket with its sleeves torn over his naked chiselled and overly buff biceps and chest along with standard-issued navy uniform pants that is stretched to its limit from his muscular thighs tucked into a pair of dark brown military-grade boots.  
  
When you think of military officer, mostly like someone like him comes to mind.  
  
Like seriously, it’s like I’m looking at marble here!  
  
“Thanks again for the escort, Captain Strongheart.” Silvia bows to him.  
  
“Save the thanks, Silvia; I’m just doing my job.” He laughs, the planks shook with each bellow, “But we DO have to take your statements down at the base.”  
  
“Do you need everyone?” She asks.  
  
“Nah, just those involved that aren’t unconscious or in the medic bay.”  
  
With that, the group that will be giving statements would be Silvia herself, Lee (whose arm is in a sling), Gord, Sam, me and a few others. The rest were given the rest of the day off to recuperate.

* * *

 

Got to admit, this isn’t what I planned my first time in a marine base to be.  
  
As a witness, to arrest pirates no less.  
  
“Is that everything?” The marine interviewing me asked, I nodding in response. That got him to put the paper he was writing aside, “Thank you for your time. You may go.”  
  
Getting out of my seat, I head out of the room into the corridor, where the others are sitting down on the bench near the door. The moment I left, one of the sailors went in and closes the door behind him.  
  
I let out a sigh as I lean on the wall next to the door. Recollecting the entire fight was much exhausting than I thought. Never in my life would I’ve thought I would be giving statement for court. And yes, there is a court hearing in this world. Although according to Sen, it’s just for show as the criminals are always found guilty and sent to Impel Down almost immediately.  
  
Talk about brutal…  
  
“Everything alright?”  
  
I turned to the direction of the voice, the same marine who leaped onto the ship that day is walking up to me with a cup of hot drink in his hand.  
  
“Oh, yeah.” I answer him, “Sorry to have worried you.”  
  
He let loose a chuckle as he stood next to me, leaning on the wall alongside me, “First time meeting pirates?”  
  
“Mm.” I nodded, “Didn’t know they were that scary…”  
  
“They are.” He noted, sipping from his cup, “You guys have some good fighters among you to fend them off so well. Most merchant ships would have suffered a lot worst than you guys did.”  
  
“You could say that…” I muttered out. Got to say, we were really lucky with Galley and the rest. If it was Buggy… or god-forbid Don Krieg? I’m pretty sure I won’t be talking to him right now.  
  
“…Tell you what.” He got up turning to me, “I’m getting off-duty in about ten minutes. How about I give you a tour of Riza?”  
  
“What?” I raised an eyebrow in confusion, “No, no. It’s fine. You don’t have to bother-”  
  
“It’s not a bother at all! It’s the least I can do for your troubles.” He assures me, “Wait for me by the gate. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”  
  
He then power walks down the halls, leaving me there completely dumb-founded over what just happened.  
  
“You alright, Rein?” Sen asked as he walks up to me from behind.  
  
“I think… I’ve just got a date…”

* * *

 

After more than ten minutes of teasing by both my mentor and the other sailors INCLUDING Silvia, I am now right outside the base’s gates waiting for that marine… Lieutenant? Or was it Petty Officer that get custom outfits…?  
  
Still, I can’t believe it. A date in my second week in this world. I mean, seriously? We only met like two days ago! We don’t even know each other’s name! I mean, even if he is picking up girls, he should have chosen someone prettier. Like Silvia, or Justin! Not a kiddie person like me!  
  
Wait, did I just mentally compare myself to the other girls? Am I actually  _jealous_  of their hourglass figure?!  
  
NO! Stop brain! Stop it! No thinking like a woman! I’m a MAN, damn it! MAN!!  
  
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”  
  
I’m brought out of my mental turmoil when the marine that has asked me out is jogging towards me in what I presume is his civilian outfit, a black short sleeved button-up shirt that has it first two buttons unbuttoned to show his bandages with a pair of light-grey pants and brown sandals.  
  
“Did you wait long?”  
  
“N-Not really.” I tell him, mentally punching myself to stop thinking this as a date, “You know… I never got your name.”  
  
“Oh! I’ve never introduced myself properly, did I?” He chuckles, “I’m Suiren. Lieutenant of 20th Marine Branch.”  
  
“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Suiren. Name’s Rein.” I greeted with a smile. He seems like a nice guy. “So, where do we begin?”  
  
“Why don’t we begin the docks?” He stated with a smile, I nodded as he leads me on this town tour.

* * *

 

Silvia peeked behind some walls with Lee right next to her, a grin wide on her face, “Wanna bet how look it will take Rein to figure it out?”  
  
“Hm… looking at the situation and the fact she is fidgeting like a lamb…” Lee muttered before raising a beri note, “1000 Beri she wouldn’t figure out until we set sail.”  
  
“Such little trust in her…” She sighed, raising a beri note of her own, “1000 Beri on tomorrow morning.”  
  
“1000 that it will last till tonight, tops.” Sen added his own.  
  
Lee collects the bills before turning to back to the 'couple' that has gone a good distance away while they were setting bets.  
  
“…Tail them?” Sen asked.  
  
“Tail them.” His captain nodded as the three of them all head after them.

* * *

 

Got to admit, at first glance this place  _looks_  packed with all sorts of people. But in reality, it only looks that way due to our timing in arriving here.  
  
For starters, we arrived in the morning, an hour before noon; the entire interview session along with me waiting for him to get off work took about two hours minimum. As such, it is around late-afternoon now close to evening, meaning there aren’t as many people in the streets as previously.  
  
The docks are no exception, with most of the fishermen are back in the docks sorting out their gear and fixing their nets and such. From what I can tell, their fishing methods are usually net-casting or harpooning larger sea creatures like sharks.  
  
“Most of the fishes that were caught are sent to the market a couple blocks down from here.” Suiren pointed out, “Those that doesn’t make the cut are usually cut up and made into chum for tomorrow’s catch.”  
  
“That’s cool.” I nodded, “And the stalls that sell the seafood here?”  
  
“They’re more of a side-business; promotion, if you will. It’s to show the quality of their catch to the fishmongers and restaurant cooks, and to convince them to buy from them.”  
  
“You sure know a lot about this Lieutenant.”  
  
“My family is a line of fishermen.” He explains with an embarrassed chuckle, “I’ve grew up around these docks.”  
  
“Oh! Suiren! You’re off duty?” One of the fishermen calls out from their place on the docks. They seem to be surrounding something that is emitting smoke.  
  
“Yeah! Thanks for the hard work!” He greeted.  
  
“Good timing! We just got out the brazier and started cooking up some spare turban shells! Why don’t you and your new girlfriend join us?”  
  
“Whoa, there.” He laughed a little, “She is not my girlfriend. I’m just showing her around. Besides, she’s way too young for me!”  
  
Wait, young? But he’s about the same age as me, right?  
  
“Lieutenant, how old are you?”  
  
“Oh, I’m 24 this year.”  
  
“Huh, just a few years older then.” I noted. So, he is a little older. The age difference isn’t that far.  
  
“Wait, few years older…?” He asked, “Rein, how OLD are you?”  
  
What is that question-Wait a damn minute…  
  
“How old do you think I am?”  
  
“Um… 15?”  
  
“WHAT?!” I nearly screamed out in anger, “I’m 20!”  
  
“SERIOUSLY?!” He shouted out in shock, “Aren’t you a little short for someone that age?”  
  
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING TINY?!” I charge right at him as he starts to run, we both becoming a circle of me chasing him and him running from me. The nerve of that guy! I bet he thought I was some kid that came stowaway on the Silver Fang!  
  
“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have assumed!”  
  
“Then let me hit you!”

* * *

 

We eventually tired out and my anger somewhat dissipated after all that running. Still a bit upset at his assumption, though.  
  
“I’m really sorry.” He apologized again, “It’s just your height and… well…”  
  
Say it, I dare you…  
  
“Come on, now.” The fisherman wave us over, “It’s all a little misunderstanding, nothing to blow a fuse over. Why don’t we treat you to some delicious turban shells? We just finish grilling it~”  
  
I’m about to reply, but then my empty stomach betrayed my thoughts by letting out a loud growl. I felt my face grows hot as the fishermen all laughed at that before I sheepishly sat down next to them on a crate that pulls out for me. Suiren joins me, sitting next to me but unable to face me.  
  
After getting handed a hot steaming shellfish off the charcoal brazier along with a toothpick, I dig into my late lunch with an improved gusto. Got to admit, shellfish caught fresh sure taste amazing, especially so close to the sea. Even without any condiments, this turban shell taste great!  
  
“Good, isn’t it?” One of the fishermen chuckles, “Freshly caught shellfish is always taste better than what you can find in the market.”  
  
“If you add soy sauce, it tastes even better.” Suiren points out.  
  
“Oh, really?” I asked, sipping on a little stock from the shell. Why does stock make from shellfish taste so good~?  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“So, you just arrive in town?” One of the fishermen asks me, “From the Silver Fang?”  
  
“Yeah, part of their crew.” I stated, “I’m one of the Ship Guards.”  
  
“You? A small lass like yourself?” I felt my nerves splinter for a moment but manages to reel it in. He treated you some food, Rein. The least you can do is not lash out like some brute.  
  
“I’m a lot tougher than I look.”  
  
“I’m sure you are, after that little debacle with Suiren!” He laughed, I let loose a small nervous chuckle at that poke, “Speaking of, how’s your dad doing, Suiren? Is that leg of his getting better soon?”  
  
“Just got out of his cast.” The marine Lieutenant explained, “Although the doctor stated that he still needs a week of rest to properly heal up.”  
  
“That’s a relief.” The fisherman sighs, “It is pretty tough to reach our quota without him.”  
  
“Bad catch?”  
  
“Not really, just it is much harder to find good fishing spots without him.” He explains, “Your dad has this ability to find the best fishing spots almost all the time, which I admit we have been relying for too long.”  
  
“You know, there is this one time which he…”

* * *

 

Sen, Silvia and Lee all hid behind the fish stall looking at the scene going on, ignoring it's owner's vicious glare.  
  
"That is quite a good mood going on between them, huh?" The captain points out, "Add an additional 1000 beri to my bet."  
  
"Oh ho~? Feeling lucky, huh?" Her quartermaster snickers as he collects the bill.  
  
"Additional 2000 for me." Sen mentions flaunting his bill towards him.  
  
When the two 'lovebirds' stood up, they panicked before dashing to in front of the stall and starts acting like they are browsing the product. They passed them, unassuming to their presence before Silvia gestures the two guys to follow her.  
  
Lee is a little late to notice as he is actually browsing the fish, his captain forcefully drags him by his collar to catch up.

* * *

 

After a few more words were exchanged, we both left the docks and is slowly wandering the streets with Suiren leading, with the sky gaining a light shade of yellow signalling the approaching evening.  
  
“That took longer than expected, but there’s still some time before sun fully sets.” He stated with a smile, “Why don’t I show you to the night market? It’s at the plaza-”  
  
“Lieutenant, did you thought I was a kid when you ask me out here?”  
  
My question causes him to stop, he turning to face me with an awkward expression on his face. If he thought I was a kid from the beginning, then when he asked me out, was it as a man to a woman, or an adult trying to cheer up a kid? Just the thought that he only saw me as a kid, it angers me.  
  
“…Well, that thought did came to mind.” He stated rubbing his neck in embarrassment, “But whether you are a kid or a grown woman, it doesn’t matter. You looked troubled by the entire pirate incident, so I thought to cheer you up a little.”  
  
“…Just for that reason?”  
  
“Yeah, why?”  
  
He’s just that nice of a guy, huh? I guess it’s not much of a date then I thought. Not that I want this to be a date! Nope! Just two guys hanging out! Two GUYS,  _hanging out_!  
  
“N-No reason…” I muttered, trying to stop my heart from fluttering. Keep it together, Rein! You are NOT developing a crush now, no matter how handsome he is! Nope! Na-ah!  
  
“Oh. In any case, let’s head over to the night market! There’s plenty of stuff to do there!”  
  
Once again letting him take the lead, I follow Suiren towards the town plaza.

* * *

 

The night market is exactly like I thought it would be, but a lot more bustling than I thought.  
  
From what Suiren said, this night market is a once a month event, in which almost everyone set up stalls to sell whatever they want. And he means whatever.  
  
There are stalls of all kinds set up all over the plaza in a somewhat circular pattern with the lamps somewhat lighting the area up selling a variety of stuff, from small knickknacks of all kinds like keychains of fishes to more detailed works of jewellery like pendants and rings and even clothing of all sorts. There are even stalls that sell street food, the smell of fried and stewed food permeates the air as the stalls line up with fried seafood on sticks as well as a large hotplate that is used to cook up some fried noodles and other savoury dishes.  
  
My mouth is watering just from the smell alone.  
  
“I take it you want food first?” He noted, I nodding in response. The turban shell isn’t that filling, even though it is pretty delicious. Now, I want some carbs in my stomach!  
  
Wait, do I even have enough money?  
  
I check my wallet with the money that Silvia has left me the moment she found out about my date. Says it was my pay, a bonus for helping fight off the Galley Pirates; it totalling at about 20 000 Beri. Looking at the closest food stall, a single small plate of noodles costing about 400 Beri. Guess I’ve more than enough for a little splurging…  
  
Now… what to choose…  
  
“Two plates of Fried Squid Noodles, please.”  
  
“Coming right up!”  
  
I turn around just in time to see Suiren standing in front of the same noodles stall I was looking at, handing over some Beri coins and taking two paper plates filled with piping hot fried noodles with rings of squid scattered in them. “You’re looking at it, so I bought it for you.” He tells me as he hands me one of the plates.  
  
“I can pay for myself, you know.”  
  
“Yeah, but you’re my guest. Letting you pay is kind of against the whole thing.”  
  
…And some people think chivalry is dead. I dig into my noodles and finds it to be really good. Got to love fatty street food~!  
  
The rest of the evening is spent wandering about the night market, looking at all the small stuff on sale and trying out other food stalls. Some of the stuff are mostly inconsequential, like plastic keychains of fishes and the works. But it is when I saw the jewellery stalls that gave me pause.  
  
For a fishing port, they sure made some nice-looking jewellery.  
  
The rings, pendants, necklace, ear-rings, etc, all of them look wonderful. The metalwork looks well-made, very detailed markings and shapes along with some of the prettiest gemstones I ever seen. Although I’m pretty sure they are fake, most like plastic or glass.  
  
“Rein.”  
  
I turned around just as Suiren places something into my hair, “I knew it, it suits you.”  
  
Huh? What did he put in my hair? I looked at a nearby mirror the jewellery stall has placed out usually for hairpins and ear-rings, nearly gasping at my appearance. A steel hairpin that has a water lily ornament is tucked neatly between my bangs on the left side on my hair. It looks really pretty-No! Stop! Stop looking pretty!  
  
I took out the hairpin in a hurry before turning to Suiren with what I assumed is an embarrassed face with how hot my face feel, “Don’t do that!”  
  
“Huh? Why not? You look so pretty.”  
  
“I don’t want to look pretty!”  
  
“That’s a shame.” He stated feeling my hair a little, “You have such a pretty face with such luscious locks…”  
  
My face heated up even more at the fact his hand is touching my hair as well as his handsome face is pretty close to mine. Okay, stop blushing, Rein! Stop your heart from fluttering! You are not gaining crush! This is not a crush! Not! A Crush! Stop thinking it like that! Stop it! STOP IT!!

* * *

Silvia squeals at the actions of the supposed 'couple', as it looks like they are kissing from their angle. "Oh my gawd! She is crushing on him SO badly!"  
  
"Can't wait to see her reaction when she finds out." Sen chuckles.  
  
"We might get to see it sooner than we think…" Lee noted, gesturing his two stalker buddies to an elderly man heading towards them.

* * *

“Hey, Suiren!”  
  
My heart nearly jumps out of my heart when we were interrupted (NOT!), as an elderly man with clutches under his arms limp towards us. He has greying black hair with a black growing beard under his chin and is shirtless with a pair of brown pants that has a red sash around his waist and a pair of leather sandals, one of his foot being wrapped in white bandages.  
  
“Dad? Why are you doing out of bed?” Suiren asked to his surprise, and mine. That’s his dad? Wasn’t he injured or something?  
  
“It’s the night market! Like I’m going to miss this.” He stated with a laugh, before turning to me. His gaze seems to scan me from top to bottom, before he let out a sigh. Wait, was he disappointed?  
  
“Suiren, you didn’t tell her, did you?”  
  
“Tell her what, exactly?”  
  
Okay, now I'm confused. What did Suiren not tell me?  
  
“You know, about your… you know.” He points at the lieutenant’s bandaged chest. That seems to gain some clarity before horror seems to fill his features. Okay, now I’m curious. What is going on…?  
  
Suiren slowly turns to me and with a shaking breath, he asked, “Rein… did you think I’m a guy this whole time?”  
  
“…Aren’t you?” What is he going at?  
  
He let out a loud sigh, before turning to me, “Rein…”  
  
“I’m a woman.”  
  
“…”  
  
“…”  
  
“…”  
  
“…”  
  
“…Sorry, what?” I blinked, “Are you trying to be funny now?”  
  
He let out another sigh before grabbing my hand and places it on his chest. Not sure what’s the point, I mean his well-chiselled chest-hang on…  
  
Why does it feel elevated…? And the overall shape… it feels like a-OH MY GOD!!  
  
“You were serious?!” I screamed out in shock pulling my hand back, “All this time, you were a woman?!”  
  
“AM a woman.”  
  
“Ar-Are you KIDDING ME?!”  
  
“Till the end of the day, folks!” Someone in the crowd shouts out as everyone starts giggling and chuckling. Wait, did everyone know about this?! Was I the only one?!  
  
“WOOHOO! I win!” I heard Sen shouted out, I notices him among the crowd taking money from a pair of sulky Silvia and Lee. D-Did he just… what?! Did they just bet on me?!  
  
“R-Rein… are you okay?” I hear Suiren asked as he-SHE places his-HER hand on my shoulder.  
  
I could only fall down on my knees as my brain just short-circuited.

The world truly is a mysterious place, isn’t it?

  
…  
 _To be continued_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah! This one is a bit tricky to do, but I ended up writing an entire romantic date with a punchline at the end. Hopefully, people don’t find this too much or too cheesy. I suck at romantic situations.
> 
> But yes, Suiren! She is one of my OC from the original fic, but she is a lot different there than here.
> 
> Here, I decide to further develop her personality, giving her a more of an accidental-yuri arch-type you find in some harem shows, the one that is too androgynous to tell about his/her gender.
> 
> And for the entire town being part of the joke… it’s a last minute thing as I only wanted the crew to be one that is part of the joke but then I thought about it and decides to write it like this.
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!


	6. East Traders

In the end, we only stayed about two days in Riza.

After the little debacle with Suiren, we spent the rest of the second day getting supplies for our next voyage. And the crew would not stop teasing me about my ‘date’ with Suiren, and the fact that I thought she was a HE the whole time. I’ll get back at them for this one day, I swear it…

Speaking of Suiren, despite the huge misunderstanding, she and I became somewhat of a friendly acquaintance. Apparently, the reason she even don on this male outfit is mostly because of her job and gender clashing. From what she told me, despite her great skill as a fighter and made a Lieutenant at a young age of 20, there are some in her branch that doesn’t seems to take her seriously due to her sex. As such, she cut off her once long hair and bind up her chest and starts showing herself more of a male.

Got to say, she got moxy, that girl…

But from what I can gather from the crew and people around town, it also has the adverse effect of her being made one of the best bachelors of Riza. I wasn’t the first one to has thought she was male at first glance with many woman who has came from outside the island making the same mistake and falling head over heels for her.

And it ends with same results every time, only usually with more additional anger and maybe a bit of confusion over their actual place on the attraction spectrum.

Anyways, on the second day, Sen decided let me have another day off, stating that we would be on land for one more day and I should make good use of that time to rest my sea legs. I ended up just helping the others with restocking supplies for the voyage, got to know a lot about the types of provisions and how to haggle for the right price.

I even got to taste Riza’s speciality, fermented fish sauce. Can’t wait for Gord to cook up some delicious meal with that!

Soon enough, we are restocked with all the necessary supplies and then some. With Silvia command, we raised anchor and set sail for a place called Temasek.

No idea what that place is, since Silvia refused to tell me and the other crew is keeping mum about it. There’s not much to say in my guidebook either, just that it is a few clicks from Riza and just south of the Conomi Islands, along with the fact that there is a large port situated in it that houses a few dozens of ships at a time.

Well, whatever it is, I sure hope we don’t run into anymore pirates on the way…

Just once is a little too much for little’ol inexperienced me…

Which brings us to right now, a week and a half into the voyage with me getting my shit beaten by Sen.

I tumble onto ground for the fifth time since we started our sparring training, a new wooden sword in my hand instead of a bamboo one. Sen walks up to me with a sigh and a shake of his head, “Still far from decent. But I got to admit, you are definitely improving. You manage to take advantage of the openings that I’ve left for you for once, and I didn’t get to break your face at all!”

“Not sure if that’s a compliment or…”

“Eh. Take it with a grain of salt.” He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, “That’s enough sparring for now. Take a short breather while I get the weights.” With that, he walks back down to below the deck, probably to get the dumbbells he bought back on Riza. I’ve never thought I would be seeing those things in my training. Just looking at them reminds me of Zoro’s own training methods. I wonder if I’ll be able to do the same powerful moves as his’?

Being able to throw out a spiral blade cyclone would be awesome…

“Need a hand?”

The familiar voice of Kris calls out with a webbed hand reaching out to me. I wave him off as I got back on my feet. My stamina has been getting better of late, in compare to my super unfit self from my past life a couple of weeks ago. I am now able to go on a full circuit around the Silver Fang’s deck twice without breaking a sweat.

Not to mention that I am able to use my wings to fly now! Well, more of hovering a few inches as Sen doesn’t want me to get lost in the open ocean with a sprain wing. Still, that’s one heck of an improvement on my part! I think I’m starting to get the hang of using my Devil Fruit powers.

Still can’t find out how to breath fire, though…

Also, speaking of Kris, our relationship has improved a fair amount since we had that talk. He no longer just lurks around in the distance or just help me before walking away before I could strike a conversation. We are actually bonding for once!

We aren’t that super close like me and Gord, but we are on relative speaking terms. He sometimes come up to me to chat, mostly about my training and the voyage, along with the news of some pranks on a few members of the crew that has caught the ears of our vice-captain and Lee is determined to find the culprit.

Not that he’ll find him. I’ve made sure to leave no evidence of me doing it.

“Water?” He passes to me a canteen, which I accepts gratefully as I sips down the ever-delicious liquid life, “Sen really hand it to you, huh?”

“He is the master for a reason.” I stated as I returns the canteen.

“But you definitely have improved. You are actually swinging the sword properly instead of swaying it around like some lunatic.”

“Was that how it looked like at the beginning?”

“Yup. Not sure if you are sword fighting or swinging a club around.”

Ouch. That kind of stings…

“Looks like I still got a way to go before I’m a proper swordsman.” I noted with a sigh.

“Don’t you mean swordswoman?”

“I stand by what I said.” Despite all appearance, I’m still mentally a man. And I will always be that way! Even if I have a sort of a ‘crush’ on Suiren before her big reveal… Damn this hormonal body…

“…Okay…” I can hear skepticism in his tone. People will be people, I supposed. Even if they are Fishmen. And speaking of Fishmen…

“I’m not sure if this sounds intrusive, but why is a Fishman like you doing on a merchant ship in the East Blue? Weren’t you guys supposed to live in the Grand Line?” That question has been bugging me for a long time, but I’m not sure if I should even ask in the first place. I wasn’t sure why I even asked now.

“…That is a little intrusive, I admit.” Kris stated before leaning on the mast, “But I can tell you this much. Even Fishman has ambitions they want to achieve.”

“And yours…?”

“…Coexistence.”

That word create pause. Coexistence, that singular combination of letters has been a curse for his species for at least several hundreds of years. If I remember correctly, even now they are still trying to negotiate for a place for them on the surface, one where they can live peacefully without a threat of traffickers coming for them like hauling seafood.

I thought the only people that even considered such a thing are either already dead or back on Fishman Island in the Red Line. Never thought that there is one right here.

“That’s… wow, just…” I sighs out as I rubbed scratched my hair a little, “This just went from like a 1… to a 100…”

“Well, you asked.”

“I know, I know, I did. I’m sorry for even bringing it up.”

“Break time’s over!” Sen calls out, breaking the tense atmosphere with his somewhat cheerful entrance as carrying in his hands are five iron cylinder weights that are measured in about 10 kilos each, “Okay, Rein! Time for some cardio! Fifty reps, go!”

We both agree to not bring up the subject again. The doesn’t stop me from wondering though…

* * *

 

Half a week later…

“Temasek sited on the southeast!”

Temasek, for being named after the ancient name of one of the smallest countries in my world, isn’t really that small in comparison. It’s actually quite large in terms of overall landmass.

For you see, Temasek is actually a collection of small islands that grouped together to form one big island. The sea between each island is narrow enough that you can call it a river and it wouldn’t be incorrect. It actually kind of reminds me of the Sabaody Archipelago in terms geography. They almost identical with exception to the fact that Sabaody is a mass of giant mangrove trees that breathes out bubbles everywhere and not an actual landmass, not to mention a bit larger.

“Home sweet home.” I heard Silvia stated out loud as she walks up to me who is leaning on the railings to look about the island; we are currently sailing in one of the ‘rivers’ to get to port, if I were to believe. And to add, there aren’t any riverbanks along it; only steep cliffs the towers over the deck.

“Home?” I asked.

“Yup.” She tells me, “Temasek is home for us merchant vessels. Those under the East Traders’ umbrella, anyway.”

“East Traders? What’s that?” This is the first I’ve heard of this. You mean that the Silver Fang isn’t just some merchant vessel? They’re, we’re actually part of some larger organization?

“They are the company we are employed under.” She explained, “I said company, but it’s more of a collaboration of multiple merchant crews to help each other gain profit and keep each other safe. Think of it like a legal pirate alliance.”

“So… it’s not actually legal.”

“More or less. There aren’t actually any legal bindings of this company’s formation, but the World Government and the Marines all leave us to our own things. After all, in this era of piracy, if you are able to trade safely and efficiently in pirate waters, you’re pretty much helping the World Government. Heck, we have the world of the Elder Stars to keep on doing what we do. We’re not technically criminals, after all.”

“And it’s situated here, in Temasek?” I am now really intrigued. It’s starting to sound like the British Empire’s East India Company of 1900s. A trading company that hold its very own well-armed militia. That would explain the cannons.

“It was born here. But before that, let me tell you more about Temasek.” She explains, “This place has an interesting geographic formation. The island itself is made out of several smaller islands, three in total, with each island having its own town with a port. We’re actually heading to one right now.”

As she said that, something can be seen in the distance. A wooden structure that resembles a gate, a fenced balcony is build in on the top that seems to has several what looks like to be Swivel guns build into the fence’s and cannons mounted at the sides, all pointing outward towards the river that we are entering. On said balcony are two people, guards from the local militia if their lack of uniforms but packing some decent bullet protection says otherwise.

“Signal!”

At the captain’s command, I heard someone pulls on something as the flag’s strings. Looking up past the sails, I notice that under the white flag is now a red triangular one.

The guards on the gate seems to take notice, as he looks to be talking into what I presume is a Den Den Mushi, the snail ‘phone’ of the One Piece universe. That reminds me, I better look to getting one. You may never know when you’ll need to call someone. A few seconds later, the wooden gate slowly opens up, the current seems to have picked up as we increase in speed slightly.

Sailing past the gate, we soon enter into a larger body of water and I am once again amazed by the fact that this is definitely not Earth.

“Welcome, to Port Fiore!”

I mean, where on earth would you get an archipelago of four landmasses that has a lake-sized clearing of sea that has three ports that faces each other?!

The clearing of ocean we sail into is large, and I mean LARGE, the size of a lake. Around it is clearly three island-sized landmass that made up part of the archipelago, large towns build along the shores with holes dug into the cliffside that surround the back of each town that looks like a rocky apartment complex. Talk about ingenuity. There even seems to be a somewhat of a lift system with the use of pulleys and weights that lead all the way to the top of the cliff.

The buildings of the towns themselves aren’t that remarkable, though, just the standard white brick buildings like the ones in Loguetown and Riza with a few a story higher than the others. The ports themselves are pretty large, looking capable to dock eight ships no problem; little rowboats too are visible about the docks. There are already a few ships docked in, all about the same size as the Silver Fang if a bit bigger or smaller.

In the middle of the sea/lake, there is the fourth island, although the term island seems to be a little incorrect. It’s more of a large platform of stone and wood with several buildings of stone and wood sitting on top of it which in turn is sitting/floating on the salty waters, with a few row boats seemly docked to it.

I’ve heard that the islands of this world can be… out there, this one doesn’t seem possible in our world. I mean, what are the odds of three islands being so close to each other that the sea becomes a river?

“Take her to port, Sam!”

“Will do, captain!”

Our boat turns sharply, but not swerving at all, as it makes its way to one of the three ports available. Now that I took notice, there are some merchant ships that has a coloured flag under their normal ones, similar to how our flag pole is right now. Heck, the ships that are docked in the port we are going to all has the same red flag. I wonder if the red flag is a symbol of some kind…

“After we dock, I want you to come with me, Rein.” Silvia calls out to me with a smile, “There’s someone like you to meet.”

* * *

 

After docking, Silvia leads me into a large white three story building a good distance away from the docks, but close enough that its view of it won’t be blocked by anything. It has blue roofs that cover its windows and on its top floor is a balcony where a flag flutters freely in the ocean wind. A bright red flag.

Okay, what’s the deal with the red flag?

A couple flight of stairs later, we made our way into a room, one that has the window view of the docks and all its ships. The room’s interior is pretty decked out in nautical charts, books filled the bookshelves nailed to the wall and stacks of paper piled on a wooden desk that stood close to the window. Behind that desk sat a young lady writing on a sheet of paper with her feather-pen, one with a modest and yet sensual bodyline. She has long orange hair that she tied in a braid with a bronze-shaded ribbon tied in the end, don in a beige shirt under a brown vest that seems to push up her boobs for some reason and a long black skirt that reaches down past her knees with her feet clothed in white stockings and black lace shoes.

“We’re back, Tio.” Silva greeted, which seems to have startled her as she threw her pen up in surprise. Luckily, she is able to catch the pen before it hit the floor with a sigh before turning to us. “Oh, welcome back, Silvia.” She greeted back with a smile, “I take it that the trade with Riza went well?”

“We have plenty of beri from the barter to build an entire new ship.” The captain places a new sheet of paper onto the desk, the young girl picking it up to have a read, “Plus, we manage to acquire a new contract for a supplier in Loguetown. Quality wheat for the bakeries that it supplies. Does the wheat farm in Pao has any space for one?”

“No, full from another contract by Bronz if I’m not mistaken…” Tio noted, placing the paper aside, “But I think the one in Miang is freed up for one more.”

“Another one? Bronz sure has been busy of late.”

“Who can blame him? His family just gotten bigger.”

“New kids?”

“Triplets.”

“Damn, his sperm must be potent to pregnant his wife that many times. What is it, the sixth?”

“Yup.” She giggled, before noticing my presence, her glaze causes me to involuntarily flinched. “Who is this young lady?”

“Oh, almost forgot.” Silvia gestures to me, “This is Rein, Sen’s new disciple. They both has been recruited as our ship’s newest guards.”

“Sen is back?” Tio noted in surprise, “That is rather shocking. He’s almost impossible to pin down without some miracle happening. How did you find him?”

“Run into him, actually.” The captain laughed, “Standing right outside of a lingerie store, said he needed to train her so I suggested my ship. We get protection, and she gets a place to train. It’s a win-win.”

“Lucky…” She muttered, before turning to me, “Well then. Rein, was it? Welcome to Temasek. I’m Tio, head of the East Traders’ Food Division.”

“Food Division? What’s that?”

“The East Traders are divided into three divisions.” Silvia explained, “Each one is responsible for one type of trade that we deal in. We deal with food products, fish, meat, milk, and so on.”

“There’s another that deal with lumber, steel, cloth, the more materialistic stuff with exception for gold, silver and gems; and another that deal with weaponry; guns, swords, the like.” Tio added on, “We are all separated into our three ports here.”

“Oh! Then the red flag represents our division in this port?”

“Yup. Red for the red of meat, easy enough. Then we have beige for wood, and grey for our weaponry. Makes it easier to distribute our goods that way. No worry for any mix up.”

“But enough about us.” Tio stated gesturing to me, “What about you? How did you come under the tutelage of Sen? From what I remember, he never had any disciples before.”

“Well, it’s a little complicated…” I wonder how should I tell them about my situation. What should I disclose to them? …Oh, I know. “I was stranded in the open sea, nearly drowned before he rescued me.”

“Stranded? How were you stranded? And why?”

“…I… don’t really remember…”

“Amnesia?”

“…Yeah…?” Well, I’m not completely wrong on that. Technically, I don’t know anything-well, anything not related directly to the Straw Hats anyway, about how this world operates at its core that doesn’t involve pirates and marines killing each other.

Tio turns to Silvia, who shrugs her shoulder, “Sen said the same thing. Finding her in the open sea, I mean. I didn’t know about the whole Amnesia thing.”

Oh, so Sen didn’t tell her EVERYTHING, huh? Good to know. It would be dangerous for such information to leak out to the marines OR the World Government. The last thing I need is Smoker on my ass with orders to catch me for the Five Elder Stars because they want to use my knowledge for their own agenda of dictatorship.

“Oh, and Rein used to be a dude.”

…Seriously? As much as I want to hold on to my own masculinity, saying that I was gender-swapped is something I don’t want just any person to know!

“Ah… Ivankov’s doing, then?” Tio asked.

“Nope, not them.” Silvia stated, “They are still confined in Impel Down the time Sen found her-um… him.”

“I really wish to not talk about that part of my life, thank you very much…” I let out a groan in response.

“Oh, apologises.” The head stated with a bow of her head, “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories like that.”

“It’s fine… it’s fine…”

“Anything else about him I need to know?” Tio asks Silvia.

“Anything else… oh yeah! He has a Zoan Devil Fruit, a… Dragon one, if what Sen told me is correct… Isn’t that right?”

I nodded in response while Tio raises her eyebrow in both confusion and disbelieve. “A DRAGON Devil Fruit? Are you joking? What are the chances of a freaking Mystical Zoan dropping into his lap?”

“Oh, he’s not.” Silvia stated pointing at me, “He can prove it too. Rein?”

I shrugged my shoulders before let myself change. Since the whole debacle with Galley, I managed to fasten my changing speed so to not get taken by surprise and get shot without my bulletproof scales. I can now change any part of my body with just a thought that took less than a second to do. Great improvement, if you ask me. Already coming up with a name for a dragon-fist punch attack.

I felt my back ached a little before the feeling of my two wings sprout out from under my jacket, spreading to its full length to my relief. Ever stretched after crouching for about half an hour or even moving after standing still for more? Well, stretching my wings is just like that.

Tio’s eyes widen to sizes I didn’t know a human eye could go to before jumping up from her seat, which causes a chain reaction of destabilising the stack of paper next to her that she then tries to safe which she tries to save only for her knee to hit hard on the table’s leg which then invited a scream of pain, she starts hobbling on one feet while holding her bruised leg while the stack of papers tumble and the sheets all scattered across the room.

Okay… I know this world is a manga in my world, but for such a manga-istic thing to happen in front of me like that? Talk about… actually, I have no idea what to compare it to…

“Ow…” She hissed before turning to me, “I…I see my doubts are unfounded…”

After that initial shock, Tio starts explaining to me about the contract between me and Silvia, and the whole serving one ship event.

There are many things that I need to take note of. First of all, my services are only paid if I worked in tandem with Silvia in any of the Silver Fang’s voyages and will be based on the profit gained from the trade. There are a few rules on ethics like not do anything that will demean the entire company’s image, as well as not leaking secrets about the company’s doings to others. After that, there is the issue of documentation which I have to give them my details for recording purpose which translate to me writing at least three pages of personal information for her.

Never thought that getting recruited into a ship would involve so much paperwork…

Once all is said and done, she welcomed me to the family and then debrief us on our voyage before letting us go. After that…

* * *

 

“To a successful voyage and fat pay-checks all around!!” Silvia proclaimed with her mug raised high in the air, “CHEERS!”

“CHEERS!”

I found myself in a bar somewhere in town where my captain has dragged me to meet the rest of our crew for a night of celebration and drinking. It is a simple bar, one of wooden floors, table and chairs, with waitresses walking about serving drinks and food to customers while the bartender stood behind his counter filling up mugs of alcohol for them.

Everyone is cheery and having a grand time, all drinking and making noise, some choosing to get into drinking competition for reasons that basically means that is a dick-measuring contest. Heck, I see Lee drinking some guys AND girls to the ground, and he is on his FIFTIETH mug!

“…Does this happen often?” I asked curiously as I looked at my mug of distilled beer if the smell tells me otherwise.

“Every time we return from a successful trip.” Gord replied, “But mostly if we manage to get quite a fat profit out of it, since it means we get more rest time.”

“I see…”

“What are you doing just talking?!” Silvia shouted sliding up to me with her arm around my shoulders, her face tined red and her breath smell of alcohol, “Drink up! You’re not a kid, right?!”

“Well…I’m not that thrill about drinking-”

“Oh, just shut up and drink!!” She laughed as she chugs her mug dry, letting out a satisfied sigh and burp, “We sailors are proud to drink and drink to be proud! Why do you think ‘A Drunken Sailor’ even existed?!”

“I don’t think that’s why it exists in the first…”

“If you are worried about hangovers and all that jazz, don’t bother.” Sen calls out as he chugs on an entire BARREL. How he manages to convince the bartender to give him one, I do not know nor do I want to know. “Zoans are infamous for their improved physical abilities as well as health, and I’ve heard that dragons are notorious drinkers.”

“So, alcohol has no effect on her?” Gord asked.

“Precisely.”

Huh… no hangovers or drunk escapades even if I drink the bar dry…? Fine by me!! With that, I down my first mug of beer and demanded refill. I’m going to drink till my heart’s content!!

* * *

 

I blinked, before rising up from a bed with confusion in my mind. I’m in a room, a simple room with wooden walls and concrete walls painted a dull white with a window overlooking the town and the large sea that shows the morning sky and a wooden door that is closed tight. It has a small cupboard at a corner with a desk and chair next to it, the desk itself is of grey wood while the chair is more of a stool of light birch, my bag of belongings sitting snug on it. The bed I am sitting seems to have a white blanket with a soft mattress under it.

What… happened last night?

The last thing I remember was ordering another refill as I joined Gord in a choir of drunk sailors singing a really off-tuned version of Bink’s Sake. Then I down my tenth… or was it fifteenth…? Anyway, I drank my mug and then nothing. Blank after that.

Did I… black out? I thought Sen said Zoan users can’t get drunk!!

But I guess he was telling the truth about the whole no hangovers thing, if my clear and not throbbing head is telling.

*Knock* *Knock*

“Rein, you awake?” Sen’s voice calls out from behind the door.

“Sen? You there?”

“Ah, you’re finally up!” He said in surprise as he opened the door and entered the room, “I thought you’ll be out till this noon, but I guess Zoans are better in processing alcohol than normal people.”

“I thought you said I can’t get drunk?!”

“I didn’t say that. I said that Zoans have improved health, not immune to alcohol!”

“Well, you should have been more specific!!”

“I WAS specific.” He groaned before giving me a glass of water which I accepted, “Drink up, and then meet me at the roof.”

“Roof? Of what?” I asked, “And on that note, where am I?”

“The dorms for the East Traders.” He explained, “Remember the cliffside with the windows and stuff?” I nodded as he continues, “We’re on the third level of that. That being this place which is a large complex of rooms that are carved out and layered with concrete. The first to second level are mostly for residents and storerooms of the company. Third floor onwards are rooms dedicated for us sailors and our family, if we have any.”

“And I am here… why?”

“Because you were assigned here. Tio just finished the paperwork for your mover and we were supposed to bring you here afterwards but then you drank too much and starts groping everyone-”

“Wait, what was that last part?” I asked fearfully. Oh god, what did my drunk-self do…?

“After you drank like your… tenth, I think? After that, you just start wobbling about with that misty eyes of yours and starts to molest pretty much everyone.” He explained to my growing dread, “First you felt up Gord’s butt, squeezed Silvia boobs, even motorboated Justin’s cleavage. I think you rubbed Kris’s dick through his pants-”

“Okay, okay! Stop talking! Please!”

“By the way, when I mean rub, I didn’t mean hand-”

“Stop talking!!” I let out a groan of embarrassment as I cover my now reddening face. Oh my god, why did I listen to his bullshit and drink like crazy! Three weeks in and I’ve molested my captain and my best friend… God, things are going to be awkward with them now!!

“…If it makes you feel better, you passed out before you can pull down Kris’s pants.” He added on to my now growing list of embarrassing acts, I pulling my blanket over me in an attempt to hide myself. Why… why did I drink, why?!

“Oh, Sen. Is Rein up?”

Gord’s voice calls out and I dug myself deeper under the blanket. Oh god, why is he here?!

“Ah, yes, he’s here.” Sen tells him to my growing horror as I heard footsteps coming close to the bed.

“Rein? You okay?”

“…y…eh…”

“Well…” I heard glass rubbing on glass before he said, “I made this for you. My special coconut smoothie. Great for hangovers.”

“…so, you’re… not mad…?” I asked worriedly.

“Mad? Oh please, I had worse done to me when I was in the marine!” He laughed, “You should see how stressed out our female officers can be. They are a different species when they drink!” I can hear him shudder. Must have been quite an experience, “Although you might want to avoid Justin for a while. She is still pissed at what you did and you do not want to see her when she is angry.”

“What… about Silvia?”

“She’s upset, but she is willingly to look past it since it was your first attempt. You might want to bring her a present next time you see her. I recommend the cinnamon rolls down by Bake Street a couple blocks from HQ.”

“Oh… And Kris…?”

 “He’s… a little surprised but he is willing to forgive you for your drunk behaviour.”

I slowly crawled out of my little blanket den, accepting the glass from his hand, “Really sorry about last night.”

“Eh, alcohol can do that to a person.” He shrugged, “Just tell me before you start chugging, so I can run before you can do anything.”

“Ass.” I muttered, but I smiled regardless. What did I do to deserve such a good friend as Gord?

* * *

 

After drinking both Gord’s coconut juice and Sen’s glass of water (Which has a scent of lemon in it), my mentor brought me to the top of the cliffside residences.

On the top of the cliff, where the sun shines down on us, there is a field of nothing but grass stretching as far as to the edge of the island with a few small patches of trees scattered about. In the small bundles of trees closest the ocean, there are a few black notable barrels of iron cannons aimed right out towards the seas and a few positioned near the river where we sailed into yesterday along with a few large wooden watchtowers that has a bell and an antenna sticking out of the roof positioned close to them. They must be the defence and sentries that look out for pirates. I guess that’s what it’s expected for living in the Great Pirate Era…

“Nice place, isn’t it?” Sen stated with a grin, “Open space, large enough for some great training. We won’t have to worry about you falling into the ocean here.”

“I… guess?” I shrugged my shoulders in response.

“Well, since we didn’t have a chance to train it, let’s work on your flying skills.” He stated to my excitement. Finally! I’ve wanted to stretch my wings for a long time! What’s the point of wings if I can’t fly using it? “First thing first, spread your wings out. No need to go full half-dragon for this.”

I nodded and let my wings sprout out from my back. “Okay. Next?”

“Next is…” He grabs onto my arm tightly, his eyes twinkle in a light that send shivers down my spine, “…First hand experience!” He then proceeds to toss me up into the air with a force that in the matter of seconds, I can barely see Temasek anymore.

Once I reach the pinnacle of my ‘flight’, I am reintroduced to gravity and starts plummeting back down. With the wind blowing into my face, I let out a scream in fear as I saw the ground coming ever so closer, if a bit slowly. Sen, what are you thinking?! Tossing me like that! I’m going to die at this rate!

Wait, I have wings!

I moved my wings and spread them out widely with the thin membranes pulled thin, the sudden increase in surface area forces me to slow down drastically from plummeting to somewhat gliding. I let out a sigh of relief from the possibility of not dying before noticing my surroundings for the first time now that I’m not falling to death.

Thanks to the lack of clouds, the sky is a clear blue with the bright sun shining down on me. I seem to be facing sea which looks somewhat clam with the rays of sunlight shimmering against the watery surface, making as if the water itself is glittering like a jewel.

Never in my life has a I seen such a view, and the very sensation of being in the sky like this. It felt… free, like the world was originally a prison and I have just broken out of its chains. Is this what birds sees all the time? This sense of freedom and… I have nothing else to describe.

“Nice view, isn’t it?” Sen asked me

“It sure is…”

Wait, Sen?

I look at my right and there he is, floating somewhat next to me with two large red-scaled reptilian-looking wings sprouting from his back.

“Sahehehe. Surprised?”

…What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished! Finally done with this chapter! You would not believe how much trouble it is to write this chapter!! Especially with coming up with Temasek all together. 
> 
> Quite a hassle that is.
> 
> So yes, the East Traders. They are something that just came up out during my brainstorming on this chapter. Originally, the Silver Fang is going to be just some merchant ship that wander about trading goods with islands that it come across. But then I remember that trade doesn’t really work that way, so I came up with a company, the East Traders. 
> 
> And yes, the name isn’t the most creative but it still fits, right?
> 
> Also, yes, Sen has dragon wings too! Jeez, I wonder why? Those who came from my original (And quite badly written) fic, then you should know why.
> 
> On another note, I like to announce that I am also showing this fic off in Forum.SpaceBattles.com too! Quite a place that site is, its readers are vicious in their reviews! Both this fic and the Fastest Hero Academia are also published there as well as Forum.SufficientVelocity.com!   
> If you have an account there, go take a read there too.


	7. Second Voyage

Over the horizon, the sun slowly rises up over the blue waters of the ocean. Its rays shine down on the island of Temasek, signalling the start of dawn and a new day. In the watchtower facing towards the east, where the sun is rising up from, a lone watchman stood on guard with a musket lays lazily on the wall next to him as he just glares at the sun with a vengeance under his tired eyes.

He lets out a jaw-stretching yawn before taking a look at his pocket watch. “Fifteen minutes till the shift change…” He mutters to himself. He raises his arms up in a long stretch, giving out a sigh of satisfaction from the sounds of bones cracking in place before picking up his musket, slinging the sling over his shoulder.

A whistle of the wind can be heard.

Curious of the noise, he peeks outside to find out the cause. What he got was a flash of white zipping past the roof above, who greets him when she passes by, “Morning, Alex!”

“Oh, morning, Rein.” He waves to the flying humanoid dragon, who gives him a mock salute before speeds off into the sky with a loud whoop.

* * *

 

It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve arrived in Temasek, a couple of weeks of spartan training by my favourite/hated mentor. If I’m not eating or sleeping, I am training my non-existence balls off 24/7 the whole time I am here. I never even got any time to myself!! It’s either my bed or in the field on top of the cliff. Or in the sky when flying lessons are on.

That’s right, you’ve heard that right, FLYING lessons. I _finally_ get to use my wings like they are supposed to be used!

And boy, the first time I manages to circle around the entire island is unforgettable. The wind in your face… The semi-weightlessness from my gliding… If there is one word to describe the experience, it’s liberation.

But of course, like anything that involves Sen, there’s a twist in this entire experience that I have NEVER saw coming…

* * *

 

_Sen stands right in front of me with a massive grin, his massive red-scaled wings wide opened to show off its thin white membrane while a long and thin scaly tail flapping in the wind is protruding from the back of his hip. His hat is no longer on his head but rather hanging on his neck via a white string that I have never noticed before, revealing his wild red mane of a hair that has two small black horns sticking out of it._

_“Sahahaha! Sorry about that. Didn’t think you’ll get shocked to the point that you actually retract your wings.”_

_I let out a huff at that comment, blowing a wet bang of hair out of my face. Even I am surprised at that myself… Dropping and smacking myself against the sea from that height is not what I expected to do so early in the morning. At least my morning shower is_ somewhat _taken care of. Laundry on the other hand…_

_“I…take it you have a lot of questions.”_

_“No shit!!” I screamed out angrily. Dropping a bombshell like that, what an asshole! What the heck even is he?!_

_Devil Fruit is definitely out. He can swim, that much I can be assured off._

_But besides that, I really have no idea how such a thing is possible! Sure, there are non-human races out there besides the Fishmen, but none in the manga OR anime has even shown such a race of sentient life before! Horns, maybe, but with wings? Nope! Never even a peep of it! I mean, the beasts known as dragons confirmed as a possibility to have existed before through the Punk Hazard, but can it be true?_

_“Okay, okay. I get the anger, but calm down a little first and let me explain.” I let out another huff but still my tongue. He then starts to explain himself, “I’m what you are commonly known as Dragons, only we are much more than those overgrown lizards you find in books and fairy tales. Those ones are a bit of a bad seed from our kind, we don’t all want to kidnap princesses and horde gold.” I raised an eyebrow at that last comment as he added, “You are an exception to the rule, considering you fell right in front of me.”_

_“Hey. Just saying.”_

_He let out a small cough in reply before continuing on. “My race is a reclusive. We rarely meet with any other races other than our own, choosing to keep to ourselves and studies. As for why we have human forms… I honestly can say I know. It just always has been this way.”_

_“So… there might be other Dragons out there, hiding in plain sight like you?” I asked._

_“Yup. Although our numbers have dwindled over the years…”_

_Wow… this is one hell of a bombshell to drop onto me. An entire race hiding in plain sight, and no one even notices. But wait a minute… “Why hasn’t I even heard of you guys before?” I pointed out. If there are races like his out there, why didn’t Oda even hinted at such a thing before?_

_“Reclusive, remember?” He stated, “I can point you to one and you probably can’t tell the difference between them and normal people. Besides, we rarely, if never, shows our true selves to anyone.”_

_“Ah…” That makes sense, I guess… “Then the reason you show yourself to me is…”_

_“You are a really big exception.” He explained, “Your Devil Fruit is one of a kind, which you can guess paints you as a really big target. If those Five Elder Stars ever caught wind of its existence…” He raises his hands up, wrists locked against each other, “You’re be detained and sent right to Mariejois. And trust me when I say this, execution_ or _slavery would be the least of your worries.”_

_Yikes… a fate worst than that? Can’t even imagine it…_

* * *

 

With that being said, his lessons became even harsher than back on the ship.

This time, I have to complete laps in the air with my wings as well as on land via my feet. Got to say, having cramps of both appendages that didn’t exist normally is one experience I wouldn’t wish to share with anyone. It’s like getting arm cramps on my back, even if there is nothing on my back… On that note, did you know that I need to use my tail to steer?

Which then brings things up to my current action, with me finally touching down in front of him after my twentieth lap around the island, nearly toppling over from exhaustion as I rest my hands on my knees to stop myself. A few flaps later to loosen up my wings before I retracted my extra limps back into me with a tired sigh.

“Nice work.” Sen commented as he checks the stopwatch in his hand, “Managed to skim off a full minute. I may have to increase the number laps tomorrow.”

“Please… don’t…” I manage to panted out. This is the third time he has added laps. Anymore and I’m going to start fainting again…

“Ten minutes rest.” He instructed, “We’ll begin sword practice right after.”

Once he left to fetch the wooden swords, I plopped down on the grass with my legs stretched out as I starts trying to get more air into my lungs.

Oh, right. Nearly forgot about that…

Now, additional to the standard sparring sessions, he also started on my formal sword training as well. Techniques, stances, footwork, all that jazz, he pumped them all into me in the best he can. Got to say, I’m pretty ecstatic about it when he started, but kind of regretted it once lessons have begun.

No matter how many times I’ve mentioned it, but Sen is the very definition of Spartan that can ever be.

Any small mistake would be penalized, with means more push-ups and running, and that has been what I have been doing in the first lesson and the amount rarely changed much. So technically, I did more exercise than actual sword fighting, sadly…

The moment I saw his figure coming towards me with the familiar pair of practice weapons at hand, I immediately got back up just in time to catch the wooden sword tossed towards me. “So, what are we doing today?” I asked.

“The same drills as before.” He explained as he raises his sword in front of him in a ready and solid stance, “Practice make perfect, and your stances and movements are still far from commendable. But you are close, though.”

“Wait, so am I okay, or still got ways to go-”

“Begin!”

My question is left unanswered as I am forced to begin my drills, which is basically slashing at the air at a certain order with each of Sen’s commands. Down, up, right-down, left-up, left-down, right-up, horizontal-left, horizontal-right, rinse and repeat. This carries on for the next several minutes, with minor tweaking in my stances and strikes from time to time.

One thing to point out here: compared to most Kenjutsu drills I’ve saw in videos (I’m a sword-fanatic), the drills I’m going through is closely reminds me of certain Chinese Dao drills. My legs are almost never remained in one stance for too long before going to the next. Makes me wonder if his sword style is inspired by them…

* * *

 

A couple of hours of drills later, we both descend from the cliff to the staff canteen for breakfast.

Said canteen is located a couple blocks from the main office building Tio is working at, which is also located a street down from the staff dorms. The canteen is a whole two-story building with both floors being filled with tables and chairs for the patrons. The first floor is the actual kitchen that serves almost everyone working there with a few tables here and there, while the floor above is filled with tables and chairs of the birch wood kind, simple design and all that.

It’s opened rather early, at about a couple hours before sunrise, and by about mid-morning is packed with most of the night shift’s workers including those of the security duty.

Luckily, we made it before it is really packed, which means we manages to get a seat to eat our meals.

“So, Sen.” I asked as I chewed on my delicious vegie omelette, “How much longer are we going to stay here? It has been two weeks and still no news on our next voyage.”

“Who knows.” He replied digging into his bacon, “Silvia is the one who organizes these, so we can only wait for her to say something.”

“Is it common to wait for this long between voyages?”

“Yeah, sometimes. You should could yourself lucky. There are times that we have to rush to our next voyage almost immediately without any semblance of rest.”

Yikes…That must be rough… Thank god I don’t have to do that… The last thing I need is for Silvia to just drop in with a last-minute assignment.

And just as I’ve thought that, someone suddenly walks up to our table and slams their hand on it hard, getting our attention almost immediately.

Then Silvia, through her panting, says to us, “Conference Room B, now. We have a new job.”

…Jinx myself, didn’t I?

* * *

 

After finishing our meal by basically shoving the rest of the food down our throat, we made it to the conference room where most of our guys are already there waiting around Silvia who has a piece of paper at hand. The conference rooms are located next to the main office building on a separate wing, linked by a few corridor/bridges from the third floor onwards. They are, to the extent of my own knowledge, reserved from meetings only, but usually by the heads of the various departments in this Division.

The room itself is pretty basic as far as conference rooms go, with a long table that has several chairs for some of us to seat down. On one-side of the wall hangs a blackboard with a few sticks of chalk laying about with, while the other is a board filled with several posters and possibly lesser documents of sorts.

Silvia, having waited enough, places down the paper in front of her before speaking, “Tio has given us a new assignment. This time, we are to transport some sugar over to the Goa Kingdom.”

That name has brought out several emotions inside me, shock and worry are a few of them. Goa Kingdom… isn’t that the kingdom where Luffy, Sabo and Ace lived? Where Dragon and Garp were born? To head there when I’m just a month in this world, talk about strange coincidences.

“We will be bringing the ones from the plantation on the island of Gula.” She then points at our navigator, a young man with a mane of a black hair that he kept out of his face by a headband, “Lio, I want to plot a route for us. Try to keep it short and fast.” He nodded in response as she points to Lee, “Lee, get our supplies ready.” He nodded at that and she continues, “We are to leave by tomorrow morning. Any questions?”

“Isn’t Gula in the southwest from here?” Sam asked, “So…”

“…Lio?”

“It’s on the way, yes.” He noted, “But it would be quite a detour, at least by a couple of days.”

“That’s a little…”

I notice he, along with a few others, are now looking at her with what I assume is their variant of a puppy-dog eyes, which had me curious. What’s at the southwest that caught their attention?

“…Argh… fine.” She lets out a groan as a few of the guys let out a few cheers before adding on firmly, “But on the return trip, you hear? We don’t want to take too long. You remember what happened the last time we did, right?” Groans can be heard from our crew in response to that. “Okay, beside that are there anything else?” No one raises their hands, to which she then said, “Then you are dismissed. We meet on the ship at least by sunrise.”

We all scattered from the room, I walking up to Gord with a question in mind, “Hey, Gord, what’s in the southwest that have Sam so excited?”

“Really? You’ve never heard of it?” He said in surprise, “It’s Mirror Ball Island, the most popular island on the East Blue! It got featured on the papers countless of times!”

Mirror Ball Island… isn’t that the island which Jango meets Fullbody through some dance contest? So, it is southwest from here, huh…? It would be fun to visit that place once…

* * *

 

The very next day, at about mid-morning, we finally set sail for our next voyage.

According to Lio, we will be taking a somewhat long way around instead of heading straight for Gula. First, we’ll stop by Gecko Island to resupply before heading straight for Gula. Once we stock up on the sugar, we head for the Twilight Isles to resupply again before heading straight for Dawn Island, where the Goa Kingdom is located.

I look over the horizon, as the image of our island slowly disappear over the distance. My second voyage, one just a couple weeks after the first one too… not to mention the destination this time…

“The Goa Kingdom, huh…?”

Dawn Island, aka the Goa Kingdom aka the place where rich and powerful tries to burn away the poor once, is the hometown of the future (Most likely) Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy. Not only that, it is also home of one of the most beloved and missed characters of the series to date; one Portgas D. Ace. If I’m unlucky, I might end up heading there and accidentally affecting the whole timeline in a huge way. Who knows what irreparable thing I might do that may derail the whole plot all together?!

I would need to be careful with what I do there. The last I need is to accidentally stop the plot from happening.

Luckily, from what the newspapers has been featuring over the past month, it appears that none of the plot major arcs has started yet. Alvida and Buggy are still roaming the seas, Don Krieg hasn’t head for the Grand Line yet, and the infamous Axe Hand Morgan is still in control over Shell Town. Even the lack of information on one freckle-faced rookie…

Not to mention the rumours and gossips of some of the people in the streets of an infamous Three-Sword-Style swordsman that has been tearing into bounties left and right for the past few months. Guess Zoro is on his way to fame/infamy soon enough…

“Food for your thought?”

A familiar voice called as I turn around to face Kris who has a pair of sandwiches in his hands, “Gord made breakfast, egg-mayo sandwiches.” He hands over one of the sandwiches, which I gladly receive. As I take a bite into the delicious morsel, he asks, “What are you thinking about? You seem worried over something.”

“Huh? Oh… it’s nothing, really.” I tell him, “Just a bit nervous, is all.”

“First time to a kingdom?” He asked, I nodding in response, “Well, I don’t blame you from having the nerves. The people in the Goa Kingdom are said to be quite obnoxious. I’ve heard that they tried to burn away an entire slum village just because some great nobleman is coming to visit them or something.”

Huh, so word about that has been going around… I guess it wasn’t as covert as I assumed it was…

“That is mostly-likely rumours in the wind.” Lee tells us as he descends down the stairs from the helm, “But the obnoxious part is pretty accurate. I would know, I’ve been there myself a few times before.”

“Is the Goa Kingdom a regular client?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah. They do pay quite a huge sum for high-quality goods, often overpaid at times, so we’ve made great profits from them.” He then scratches his head with a tired grimace, “But they have certain… how should I put it…? Expectations is probably the right word.”

“Expectations?”

“They are extremely fussy over certain things, like how we packed the crates to even how long it was on board the ship when we docked. Anything less and they might halve the payment or don’t pay at all. There have been countless of our trade ships that suffer huge losses over small things like slightly bruised vegetables, or having a corner of the timber soaked. Heck, I’ve heard that they didn’t pay and even demanded compensation over a lone unripe apple that got accidentally mixed in.”

“Compensation for a single apple?!” These guys are way too much if that’s the case! Who would demand compensation for one below-par fruit?!

“And yet, we kept the contract?” Kris asked.

“As devasting the losses are, the major profits we gain from it balanced it out nicely.” Lee explained, “No harm no foul, I guess.”

“Still, over a single unripe apple?!” I let out a groan at that, “Now I’m even more nervous… hope I don’t screw things up…”

“It’s a good thing we’re taking a more scenic route, huh?”

A-fucking-men to that…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! Done! Finished with this chapter, finally! Oh god, with work and not to mention the trouble I have for planning out this little arc of mine, I didn’t know if I’ll even finish this at all! You have no idea how long I have brainstormed over what to do from now on!
> 
> So, yes. Rein is heading for Goa Kingdom, with a few detours along the way! It wouldn’t take too long, planning it to have at least a chapter for the trip and a chapter for the island. If you recognise the name of a certain island, then yes, you’ll know what might be coming.
> 
> Also, this couple of months has quite a lot happening, didn’t it? Stan Lee dying last month, god bless his soul despite all the dumb things he has done over the years, not to mention the heck of reveal in by Oda.
> 
> Now to clarify this, the previous chapter was written BEFORE Kaido’s Dragon Devil Fruit is revealed, so that part is still blowing me away!
> 
> And there has been very good anime this season that I had been keeping up, with one Isekai show that had me hooked since its manga adaptation captivated me. The animation isn’t the best, but the voice work is pretty spot on with how I’ve pictured the characters being voiced!
> 
> Not to mention the latest season of RWBY which, to be honest, almost make up for the some-what disastrous previous season with how much it improved over the past two seasons since Monty’s passing, with reveals that has blown my headcanon way off, not to mention the insane pace Boku no Hero Academia has been going and with season 4 coming next year, I’m getting way hyped over the anime season next year!
> 
> Once again, I apologised for the wait and hopefully the next chapter wouldn’t take too long…
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!


	8. Close Calls

Surprisingly, it took only about two days for us to reach Gecko Island. Guess it is a lot closer than I thought it would be.

The port that we docked in, named [Honey Docks] and no, it’s not a made-up name even if I want it to be, isn’t as extravagant as Loguetown’s or commercial like Temasek’s. If I were to put it into a single phrase, it would be ‘plain’.

There are normal wooden docks that we anchored the Silver Fang, which are typical for these kinds of settings, and the town itself is a simple arrangement of white brick houses with blue or red stone tiles with a few wooden houses here and there standing out with a few shop signs and billboards nailed on the stores’ roofs for all to see.

All in all, a simple port town with little to offer in commercial goods for other islands.

We are to docked here for just one day to resupply for the two weeks journey towards Gula, where we will be getting the sugar requested. From what the goddess’ guidebook said (I’m officially calling it that from now on), Gula is one of the few largest exporters of sugar as well as having one of the biggest sugarcane plantations in the East Blue. Guess if we are delivering sugar, we are getting from the best.

Besides those that are roped into helping the moving of the new supplies, Silvia let the crew have a shore leave to rest up in preparation for the long voyage ahead, although she made it very clear that we are to return at least by nightfall or she is going to leave them behind.

That leads to me just wandering the streets, Sen getting roped into helping with the supplies so basically leaving me with a break from training for once.

Got to say, it has been a very long time since I have some time to myself. Back in Riza didn’t count as I technically is on a date-NO! That was NOT a date! It is just… hanging out! That’s it! Friends hanging out! FRIENDS!!

Anyways, I’m left just walking around the streets of the town and taking in the sights. And I got to say, for being called Honey Docks, the port town isn’t exactly ‘sweet’ to look at-wait, no, that’s a terrible metaphor to use, please forget that. What I meant to say is that my original statement of it being called ‘plain’ is pretty accurate once I saw the main streets.

It is a bustling town, for sure. But unlike Loguetown which is more of a bustling city than anything, or Temasek that has the advantage of being called a trading port, Honey Docks is more of a pitstop than anything.

It has the usual bustle of a town but not crowded with people or sailors, the stores and shops are what you would expect from a seaport with no real specialty of the island on sale. All in all, it’s just another port town you could probably find anywhere.

The warehouse near the docks does indicate something else, but I’m not sure.

Now then… what to do now…? We have arrived at about noon-ish so we had our lunch on the ship in courtesy of Gord magnificent cooking skills, which means I’m still full so that leaves out getting some food. And I have been in this town for about… fifteen minutes and I’m already bored with it.

What else is there to do? I can’t exactly leave the town to go further inland because I have no idea the geography of the island not to mention the possibility of me pulling a Zoro and getting lost to the other side of the island. I could go for a nice flight, but Sen has forbidden me from using my wings outside of training, and if he finds out I did it anyway… I fear that he might add torture to my ‘training’…

“Maybe I should have volunteered to help with the crates…”

“Ah! Look out!!”

“Huh?”

I turned to the voice of warning in confusion, only to see a pile of decorated boxes fell on top of me, semi-burying me in them as I fell onto the floor with them.

“Oh no, Klahadore!”

“Oh, dearie me, are you alright?”

I let out a small grunt as I dug myself out of the present burial, “It’s okay, I wasn’t looking at where I was… going… either…” Then I felt my voice died in me as I saw who is standing in front of me.

With his hand extended towards me in a gesture of goodwill, with his dark hair slicked back by hair gel or grease if the oily surface is any indication and a pair of wide round glasses that seems to block his eyes by the light reflection, is the disguised Kuro of the Thousand Plans.

Oh shit…!! what is he doing here?! Wasn’t he supposed to be in Syrup Village busy tricking the villagers and Kaya?!

“Miss? Is something the matter?”

I blinked before quickly getting on my feet while, admittingly rudely, ignoring his hand, “Oh! Nothing! I’m fine! Fit as a fiddle!”

“I… see…”

“Oh, Klahadore… you should have watch where you are going!” A female voice behind him stated, a young blonde woman that is obviously a slightly younger Kaya peeked out with her hands around her hips. Huh? Wasn’t she supposed to be sickly or something?

“I’m sorry, Mistress Kaya.” He apologized to her with a sheepish smile, but his eyes glanced at me for a moment, and in that single moment gave me a peek at the cold and calculating man under the façade. This is bad, did my flinching tip him off? I have to get out of here, before he gets any ideas…

“I apologize for my butler’s mistake, miss.” Kaya bowed to me, to ME of all people, “Is there anything we can make it up to you?”

“Oh, no. It’s fine, really.”

“Oh! There’s this café I know of! I could treat you to some tea. And the cake is so delicious!”

“Seriously, it is fine!”

“No, please, I insist!”

She sure is persistent, I give her that… I know she means well, but I really don’t want to go near that ‘butler’ of hers without my wooden sword AND my all-cutting knife (And for the record, I have checked the knife for its claim. Nearly poked a hole in Sen’s old dinghy of a boat with it too).

Just as I was about to give up and just book it, I saw my opportunity just turning around the corner.

“Sorry, but I really got to go!” I tell her before dashing past her and latching onto my saviour hand with an iron grip, “Found you!”

“Wait, wha-?”

“Seriously, you always wander off like that!! Mom said we have to stick together!”

“What are you-?”

“And wasn’t the older brother supposed to be the one guiding me?!”

After a quick glance to check that Kaya and her ‘butler’ of hers are gone, I let out a sigh of relief. That was close. TOO close.

“Oh, my. Rein.” I looked back at Sameson who has the most surprised expression I have seen on his face, before adopting a sly grin of sorts, “If you are into brother-roleplay, you could just ask. I would gladly play the role of the hot older brother lusting for his sexy younger sister-GAK!!”

Grunting as he cups his poor bruised nether regions from me kneeing them, I let go of his hand with a scowl on my face, “Don’t misunderstand. I just needed an excuse to turn them down.”

“Yeah… I…I ca-can imagine…” He lets out a squeak before leaning on the wall in pain, “Glad to be of help…”

* * *

 

The rest of the day spent in Honey Docks went by as slowly as it could have for me, with my paranoia of Kuro possibly suspecting me of suspecting his true identity and would come to force me to ‘keep quiet’ burning metaphysical bon fires in my head.

As if by fate or some damn miracle, nothing happens to me by the time we are set to sail for Gula.

To be honest, that just scares me a little more than I wanted it to, but after two days out in the sea with no signs of the Black Cat Pirates anywhere, I can finally rest easy knowing that the scheming pirate didn’t catch wind of me.

Not sure if that would be a good thing, though…

By not revealing his real identity, I may have doomed Kaya and, in extension, Syrup Village to his villainous plans. From that brief interaction, it is obvious that Kaya is a gentle soul unworthy of the era she is born into, if a bit naïve looking. To leave her with that cold-hearted monster of a man, it doesn’t sit right with me…

Should I inform someone about this? Tell someone of the lies that the Kuro of the Thousand Plans is still alive and is about to enact a devious plan that may spell the end of an entire village?

After thinking about it for a few days, I decided with a heavy heart to just let the plot be. After all, no matter how ‘perfect’ Kuro’s plans may be, it is by fate(plot armour) that Usopp and Luffy would overheard and put a stop to his plans all together. Even without my interference, he would be stopped regardless.

With that out of the way, I return back to my usual routine on the Silver Fang.

But even if Kuro is out of my mind, there is a danger coming closer to the ship, one that I have never imagine encountering at all.

* * *

 

It is only a week after we departed from Honey Docks.

We are currently now passing through what is known as the Orange Straits (Again, I’m not making any of these up), a stretch of ocean that acts as the makeshift border between the island of the now-defunct Oykot Kingdom and Conami Islands.

These waters aren’t ideal for massive vessels like galleons and a few of the larger Marine battleships due to the small dots of land that too small to be considered islands that are scattered along the sea into a somewhat maze of currents that would beach any of them onto them the moment they entered.

But for smaller ships like the Silver Fang, who is only half the size of the largest galleon available anywhere else, the channel is the perfect shortcut to go through towards Gula that cut the trip to about a half a day. In comparison, the usual route taken by the larger vessels have to circumvent Oykot, since the waters near Conami is occupied by the infamous Arlong Pirates, which takes about three to five days to complete.

And in these maze-like waters, is where I have one of the most dangerous encounters to date.

“Captain! Ship sited off the portside!”

A call from the crow’s nest alerted the crew, most of us stopped what we are doing and took a glance at the stated direction.

Indeed, over in the open waters to our left lies a lone ship drifting about in the currents. Its caramel-toned wooden body waterlogged and punctured with holes resembling the result of cannon fire, its sails torn and stained grey and yellow, and its stern and rudder completely smashed to shreds. On its deck are a bunch of sailors that seems to be waving a bunch of stuff in an attempt to attract our attention.

“Looks like a drifting vessel.” Lee commented.

“What of the crewmen?” Silvia asked.

“Simple sailors, from what I can see!” The lookout replied, “None of them are armed. I think I saw a few corpses onboard with them.”

“Must be the victims of a pirate raid…” She concluded, “Get the ship close, Samerson.” An ‘aye’ from the helm can be heard, “Lee, inform Justin and prep the medical team for refugees. And get Kris to go over there to look about the waters, to keep the ship from drifting too far.”

“Got it.” Lee replied before rushing below deck.

“I’ll get Kris.” I noted before running to the rope tied to the railing.

I’ve probably failed the mention this before, but besides Temasek, Kris does not land on any of the islands we visited, choosing to stay near the coasts of the ports and about the waters around the docks. He actually spent more time under the water than above it, not sure why but it’s his thing, I guess. So, whenever we need him up on deck to receive orders, we use a heavy weight that looks like a clam shell tied to the rope which we then toss over board into the water as a signal for him.

After I went did exactly that, Kris’ head pops out of the water a few seconds later. “What is it?”

“There’s a drifting ship to the portside.” I explain to him, “Silvia wants you to check it out.”

“Understood.” He nods before diving back under the water.

Returning to the portside of the deck, I waited patiently as our ship turns around and slowly made its way towards the drifting vessel.

“Something feels wrong.” Sen commented as he made his way to the railings.

“What does?” I asked.

“You can’t see from this angle, but the rudder looks like it has been torn out without affecting its hinges in the stern.” He explained, “Cannon fire wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“That means that-”

Not a second sooner, gun fire can be heard from the ‘victims’ ship, followed by a smoke flare firing into the sky leaving behind a long trail red tainted smoke.

“IT’S A TRAP!!”

The very moment that infamous phrase is shouted out, columns of water burst out from around the ship.

From afar, over the horizon and sailing towards us fast, are at least two pirate themed ships with light and smoke signalling firing cannons. They are at least the size of the Silver Fang, with darker wood planks and black sails shown proudly with the infamous Jolly Roger painted on.

And not just any Jolly Roger, mind you.

It is the skull and crossbones with two hourglasses, the very insignia of the Krieg Pirate Fleet.

“Don Krieg?! Here?!”

“What is the captain of the largest pirate fleet in the East Blue doing here?!”

“An ‘abandoned’ ship that acted as bait…” Silvia noted as the boat shakes with the wave from another cannon shot hitting the water, “Classic pirate ambush tactics… Can’t believe I didn’t see that one coming a mile away.”

“What now?!” Lee asked worriedly.

“…Samerson!” She commanded, “Get us out of here and fast! Everyone else, bring the sails to full mast! We’re not gonna be Don Krieg’s mark this day, you hear me?!”

“Aye, aye!!”

Everyone clamber to their stations with a few dashing across the deck to prepare the cannons for fire, crates of cannonballs are carried all about with several sacks of gunpowder not too far behind.

“Rein!” Silvia calls out to me, “Head to the skies! You and Kris will draw their cannon fire away to give us an opening! Slow them down if you can!” She then pulls something out of her cleavage (Because OF COURSE she’ll keep stuff in between those mountains) and tosses something towards me which I hastily stumble to catch, “Use that Baby Den-Den Mushi to stay in contact! Once we’re in the clear, you are to come back _immediately_ , got it?!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!!” I mock saluted before perching the snail on my shoulder. The snail is light-grey with a blue shell, on the sides of it are bronze speakers while its eye stalks are half-closed with a drowsy expression. I think Sen has shown me how to dial one of these once before…

“Stay calm and remember to flap your wings to gain speed, but glide for long distance.” Sen tells me placing a hand on my shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze, “You got this.”

I nodded at his advice and unfolds my wings. I then proceed to leap off the railings and took to the air, my wings flapping hard as I launch myself towards the assaulting ships. Below me, I can see the silhouette of our fishman crew mate swimming under the waves towards the same target. The very moment we reach the leading ship, I ascend to bleed off my speed before landing on the deck with a grin.

“Hey there!” I greeted.

“The hell?! She has wings!!”

“Are those horns?!”

“It’s the devil! The sea devil has come for us!!”

Ignoring the slightly panicking pirates, I continued, “I’m Rein, and you guys are attacking my ship. And I will be _extremely_ grateful if you all _not_ attack it.”

“You idiots! She’s no devil!! That’s just a kid with Devil Fruit powers!!” The one I presume is the captain of this ship who is NOT Krieg, thank goddess almighty, spoke up, “Shoot her!”

The sounds of flintlocks being cocked is warning enough as I took off into the air once more, narrowly dodging their bullets as I flew above and about their ship. With an idea in mind, I flew close to their sails, slowing down for a moment for them to get an aim at me before flying away just in time for the lead rounds to miss me while poking holes into their sails.

I then flew a few more laps zigzagging around their masts and sails with similar results, with one occasion in which one of them has leaped off the mast to try and catch me in the air which failed spectacularly as not only did he missed, he also landed on his crew mates, effectively body slamming a few of them into the deck hard with sounds of broken bones being very clear even with the wind blowing past my ears. By the time I lap around the fifth time, their sails are nothing but swiss cheese.

“DAHAHAHA! Thanks for your help!” I laughed their faces when they finally realized what I was doing, “And for the record, I’m TWENTY!”

A few more rounds fired as I flew away from the ship, just in time to see Kris burst out of the water in a large torrent of water around him as he lands on the deck with a large splash, soaking the cannons and bags of what I assume is gunpowder. He then proceeds to flip them off before diving back into the sea.

“And for safe measure…”

I then flew to their stern and with one strong huff, slams my transformed feet into the rudder’s hinges, smashing right through it. Satisfied with my work, I flap my wings and head towards the next ship.

“Same method?” Kris asked me as he pops his head out of the water while swimming towards the ship.

“Yup!” I nodded with a thumbs-up before making a dash for the pirate vessel.

Once again, I perform the similar act as I did for the previous ship and again with similar results. Although, for this ship, something went differently the moment I did my third lap around.

This time, there’s another person on the mast ready to jump onto me but instead of it going terribly wrong for him like previously, it went _horribly_ wrong for me. For one, he didn’t jump off above me, he jumped at me the very moment I slowed down next to the mast. As I was too busy baiting the other pirates, I did not notice him until it was too late.

At one moment, I was in the air with a smug grin.

The next, I’m suddenly pushed down onto the deck with a loud and painful thud, face landing first to my dismay. I may have broken a nose from that…

“Got you now, you brat.” A calm and cold voice spoke as I felt what seems to be a round metal something leaning against my neck. Twisting my head to get a glance, I notice the light gray headband and jacket, the black iron ball the size of my head that is connected to an equally black iron rod, and finally the cold eyes of the person that is kneeling on me.

“Alright, way to go Gin!!”

“As expected of our Combat Commander!!”

“He took her down without a cinch!!”

Gin? As in THAT Gin, the one that went toe-to-toe, or tonfa-to-feet if you want to be specific, with Sanji of all people?! Oh crap, I didn’t think he’ll be part of this!! This is bad! Really, really bad! I am no way able to fight against someone of his level!! This is impossible!!

“I don’t really like to do this to kids, but you are making too much of a ruckus.” He tells me, “So, sorry for this.”

My mind immediately remembered one tidbit about him, the one in which he is completely ruthless and cruel, and that information gave me dread. Crap, he is about to bludgeon me with his monster of a weapon, isn’t he?! Crap, crap, crap! What do I do?! What do I-Wait, I have Devil Fruit powers!

I immediately change my head, and most of my limbs on instinct, into scales and retract my wings, just in time too as I felt the metal weight impacting against my skull hard, the ringing of metal clashing rang out from the resulting clash. Urgh, I can feel my brain vibrating from the attack…

“What in the…?”

Sensing the surprise in his voice, I use this moment to push myself upward, effectively pushing him off as well, and clambers out of the lock. Taking a few steps, I turn around to face the beast that is Gin, his mouth tensed and body poised for another attack.

Compared to in the manga, which is after he was nearly _starved_ to near death, Gin looks rather well-fed. There’s still a sense of scruffiness in his hair but the lack of eye bags means that this guy is in tip-top condition, and is fully ready to kill at a moment’s notice.

“So, this is the power of a Devil Fruit user, huh?” He stated, twirling one of his tonfas, “Good to know. Now I know how much I need to put into my strikes.” He then dashes towards me, swinging his weapon at me.

Not sure it is due to training with Sen for so long, or because my Devil Fruit enhances both my physical and mental capabilities, Gin’s strike actually looks somewhat slow. Not as in slow motion, but slow enough that my reflexes kicked in and I duck under the overhead strike rather effortlessly.

“Oh? Then how’s this!?”

He continues to swings several more strikes at me, twirling and spinning every few moves to add momentum and strength to his attacks, and each time I dodged them just in time. Of course, I’m still panicking when doing so, with a few manages graze my cheek or gut, add to the fact that I’m backing away while he is advancing spells out the direction this fight is going to take.

Although I got hand it to Sen, he knows how to train someone if just over a month training means able to dodge strikes that could obliterate ribs in one hit

“Whoa! This kid is actually going toe-to-toe with Gin!”

“This is the first time I have seen our commander having this much trouble with someone that young before!”

“Go for it, Gin!! Knock her head clean off!”

“Devil Fruit or not, she is no match for a real Demon!!”

“Show us the power of the Man-Demon!”

Well, aren’t the peanut gallery having a good time? That being said, shouldn’t they be helping instead of cheering? I mean, they are PIRATES, after all…

A few steps back and I found myself with my back against the wall, or in this case, back against the mast. “Got you now!!” Gin, with the ferocity to match his namesake, swings down in an overhead strike that is clearly aiming to smash my skull in. I quickly raise my arms up in a cross, just in time to block the attack which slams into my forearm hard. The power behind that strike had my arm shaking from the impact as I struggle to hold back the strike.

Damn, he hit just as hard as Sen! Even in my half-dragon form, his attacks are almost breaking through my scales!!

I then felt the weight on my arms just suddenly lift off, causing me to stumble forward for a second before another attack hits right into my gut hard. In the split-second sensation, he must have slammed his knee into me the moment I stumble, blasting the air out of my lungs on impact. I only have a second to gasp for air before another weight slams into my face hard, knocking my head against the mast so hard that I can hear the cracks being formed on the wood.

“Grrgghh…”

“You’re alive after that…?!”

I let out a groan as his weapon is lifted off me. Owowow… I think my nose nearly broke from that strike… And I may have a concussion from the impact. Guess my face isn’t as well protected as the rest of my head…

“Guess I just have to hit harder!!” He shouted angrily, spinning his tonfas faster and faster ready to strike down.

Not sure if it is due to the concussion or my animalistic instinct, but the moment I saw him spinning his weapon, I lashed my fist out at him, just as he is about to swing down his weapon which he did and misses my head by a small margin, and punches right into his chest hard. I can feel his ribs collapsing a little under my knuckles as I actually sent him flying with that attack, knocking down a few of the pirate peanut gallery along the way.

I was left stunned by my actions, looking down at my transformed fist with only one question in mind. Did I actually just do that?

“Commander!!”

“She actually sent Gin flying!! Devil Fruit users are crazy!!”

And to add salt to injury, sea water splashes into the deck and soaks everyone AND me from top to bottom. “Rein, we got to go!!” Kris’s voice calls me out, pulling me back into reality as I immediately prepare to run off, before remembering to do one last thing.

I turn back to the mast and grabbing it with both of my transformed arms, I squeezed as hard as I can. A few notable seconds later, I can feel the wood splintering under my strength before with one final squeeze, the portion of the mast I was squeezing gave way, leaving a large gouge mark on where my arms were.

“Done.” I nodded with a grin before turning back to them, “And for the record, I’m TWENTY!!”

With that said, I ran and leap off the side of the ship, unfolding my wings mid air and with a flap, sends me flying away from the ship, just in time to hear the sounds of the mast toppling over into the deck.

I let out a hiss when the salty breeze blows against my nose. It may not be broken, but Gin may have left a rather nasty bruise on it. Not to mention the taste of blood in my mouth from I can guess is a cut lip…

Then my mind was pulled back by the sound of cannon fire in the distance, coming from where the Silver Fang has sailed to.

_ “Puru puru puru puru.” _

The Mini Den-Den Mushi then rings to my surprise, almost forgetting about the mollusk on my shoulder who surprisingly haven’t fallen off in my tussle with Gin, and I picked it off my shoulder to answer.

"Yeah?"

_ “Rein! You and Kris-AH! *SPLASH* You and Kris need to get back to the Silver Fang, pronto! Krieg got both ends covered and is pinning us down! We need your help!!” _

“A pincer attack…!” I muttered in realization before speeding forward as fast as I could muster towards the assaulted ship.

* * *

 

Back with the Silver Fang, its captain is facing one hell of a naval warfare ahead.

She originally planned for both Rein and Kris to distract the two ships, disable them if they could, which might give them enough time to sail out of the strait to the safety of the open waters. Knowing about those two’s capabilities, the fishman more than the newbie, she expects that the both of them would be able to make it back alright.

What she wasn’t expecting is for another pair of pirate vessels waiting near other end, and with a large man-o-war at the mouth blocking their only way out.

That brought them to their current predicament, getting flanked on both sides by cannon fire with the added mortar shots from the large ship afar. They are barely fighting back, cannons firing back and forth from all four ships, but with a few mortar rounds hitting really close to the ship, Silvia knows that it is a losing battle.

Even with Sen’s help, who is basically tossing cannonballs into the incoming shots and detonating them in mid-flight, they aren’t doing too well. Sooner or later, their limited ammo supplies are going to run out and they would be open for a full volley of cannon and mortar rounds. They need to turn the tide somehow.

“Status report!!” Lee calls out after reloading his rifle.

“Cannon balls are about to run out!!” Gord calls out.

“And we’re still no closer to the exit!!” Samerson added franticly, “That dumb ship is in the way!!”

“At this rate…” He mutters out, bracing the moment he hears a cannon firing as a large column of waters blasts right next to the ship, spraying sea water all over the deck.

“I could take care of that galleon.” Sen points out as he tosses another cannonball that detonates in mid-flight, “But just defending against those two brigs is taking all I had. If only we can take those two down…”

“That’s impossible!” One of the crew shouted in a panic, “Our cannons can’t fire that far away! Not to mention we are already low in ammunition!”

“We just need to hold out for a little longer!!” Silvia tells her crew with holding on a Mini Den-Den Mushi, “Kris and Rein are on their way back! Once they take care of those two pirate ships, Sen will deal with the galleon. Samerson! Once the route is clear, get us out of here!!”

“Roger!” They all replied as one, only to get pull back into the action when another cannonball hits very close.

“I sure hope they make it back soon…” Lio noted, lighting the fuse and braced for the bang, the cannon fires out loudly towards the pirate ship, “Because I think their aim is getting better…”

* * *

 

On one of the pirate brigs, its men are lighting and firing volley after volley of cannon rounds. The captain of that ship, a thug-looking man with an eight-o’clock shadow under his chin and a red bandana over his greasy hair, smirks widely as he saw the results of his admiral’s plans coming to fruition.

“Just a little more!!” He commanded, “Keep them rooted there!!”

“It sure was smart of Admiral Don Krieg to come up with such a devious plan.” One of the pirates noted.

“Of course, it is! He’s the Pirate Admiral, Don Krieg!!” Another tells him, “The mightiest pirate of all the East Blue!!”

“To think we get to take down an East Trader ship!! Oh, how much loot do you guys think they have?!”

“I’m betting at least five chests full of gold and Beris!!”

“We’ll know once the cage is set!” The captain laughed, before rubbing his chin in confusion, “But it’s strange… Gin’s ships should have arrived by now…”

“Captain!!” One of the pirates in the crow’s nest shouted out, “There’s something coming towards us from the stern!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“I can’t tell for sure… It looks like… a person? It’s coming really fast-What in the hell?!”

“What are you saying?!” He shouted at the lookout, “What did you see?!”

“It’s a girl!!”

“A… girl…?”

“A young girl with demon wings!!” The lookout screams, “And she’s coming straight for us!!”

“A girl with wings?!”

“A demon!! They have an actual demon on their side!!”

“Oh god, I’m too young to end up in Davy Jones’ Locker!!”

“I didn’t even lose my virginity yet!! I don’t want to die a virgin!!”

“Silence!!” The captain shouted, silencing the pirates instantly, “You bunch of pussies, isn’t it obvious by now?! Those rumours about those fruits that grant people powers!” They all looked at him with a blank and lost stare, he let out a huff of disappointment while muttering about how did he end up a captain for such idiots, “She ate a Devil Fruit, you numb nuts!!”

“Oh…”

“And if the rumours are true…” He picks up a rifle and took aim, “Then they sink like a hammer in the water!”

Pulling the trigger, he fires a round right at the flying girl in the distance. His smile widens when he saw the girl slopping down afterwards, thinking that he got her.

He didn’t.

As he soon finds out after turning back to issue a command, something human-shaped slams into the mast hard. An agonising second later, the mast leans backwards before with several snaps, the wooden pole is broken off of the deck and slams into the mizzen, almost snapping that on impact if the way it bends is anything to be indicated.

“What hit us?!” He shouted.

“Me.”

A girlish voice tells them, they all looked up with either jaws dropped or eyes as wide as they could be.

Hovering above them with a pair of reptilian wings flapping to keep her airborne, is a young girl that couldn’t be past the age of fifteen who has one of the smuggest grins ever conceived. She has glossy black shoulder-length hair and dark brown eyes that seems to have slit pupils, white scales cover the sides of her face and ears with scaly limps and legs that clearly doesn’t look human at all, and a pair of long ivory-white horns sticking out of her forehead that semi-curved back over her head.

“Hi. My name is Rein.” She greeted in a rather masculine fashion, “I’m here to stop you from shooting my ship.”

“…Haha…Hahaha…HAHAHAHAHA!!” The captain starts laughing away without restrain, his crew joining suit with stiffer and forced chuckles. As the laughter subsides, he pulls out a pistol aimed and fired, the lead round missing her head completely, “Shoot her down!!”

Rein easily flies away from the incoming lead rounds and calls into her Mini Den-Den Mushi, “Okay, got their attention off you!” She flinches as one bullet grazes her horn, “Whatever you need to do, better do it fast!”

* * *

 

“Got it! Just hand tight!” Silvia nodded at her own snail-phone before turning back to her crew, glancing at the ship where the young dragon girl is at to check if the rifle sounds are real.

At about the same time, Kris splashes out of the sea and landed on the deck with soft thud, “The other ship is disabled now. Gunpowder wet and useless while their rudder is smashed beyond repair.” He then added on, “Also, I punched a hole in their hull which they are most likely trying to patch right now.”

“Dude, that’s savage!” Gord commented, “Glad that you’re on our side.” The fishman gives him a thumbs up in response.

“Alright, Sen!” She calls out, “Whatever you are planning on doing, you got your chance! And you better make it quick!”

“Roger that!” He replied as he steps on the bow of the ship.

He raises his hand up facing the large man-o-war, his index finger pushing his thumb in a to-flick motion, with his spare hand holding onto his wrist as a stabilizer of sorts. He adjusted his aim a bit, before with a small grin on his face, he flicks his finger outwards at the large gunship...

...And releases a storm.

A large burst of wind blasts right across and through the waves, before smashing right into the large vessel. The sheer impact of it cracks and splinters the ship’s entire side, before it flips up loop-de-loop style and splashes back down into the sea hard, resulting in the entire ship being snapped right down the middle.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Everyone stopped what they are doing when that happen with jaws slacked, as they saw the shipwreck that was the man-o-war slowly sinks to its watery grave with most of its crew following soon after.

“…Okay. It is official.” Lee says to Silvia, “Getting Sen back is truly the best idea you ever had.”

“Thanks… I guess…?” She stated in the confusion, before shaking herself back to reality, “Samerson! Get us out of here now!!”

“Ro-Roger that!!”

She then dials up her Mini Den-Den Mushi again, “Rein! Get back here, pronto! We’re leaving!”

 _“Go-Got it!!”_ She replied, _“Also, just out of curiosity, was that…?”_

“…Rein. Let me be the first to say the Sen is a monster that I want no one to face, ever.”

_ “D-Duly noted…” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! Chapter finished! 
> 
> Wow, this is a long one, longer than I anticipated. Guess writing naval battles aren’t as easy as I originally thought.
> 
> Now, I want to know if Rein’s whole power set is properly balanced. After all, I did pin her against Gin of all people, and we all know how powerful he is. I just want to check if I’ve made her too strong too fast, and may have accidentally turn her into a Mary Sue…
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!


	9. Meeting the Fist

“Gula, straight ahead!!”

That phrase alerted everyone as several men all rush to their posts near the mast and a few prepared for docking procedures. After another five days at sea, we finally reached our destination, the first checkpoint of our trade journey.

After the whole debacle with the Krieg Pirate Fleet, after checking ship over for any major damage and finding none worse to wear with the exceptions of slight sooty spots around the area where the cannons has fired, we carried on our way towards Gula in high spirits.

And, thanks no part to good winds and a few lucky currents here and there, we actually made it to Gula a day ahead of schedule.

Which is a godsend, with our supplies in the verge of running out. Quite a bad time to find out that Gord’s way to de-stressing himself is cook like a man possessed. There were _so many_ croquettes and potato salads that it filled up the entire pantry, forcing us to eat only that for the three days straight! Never thought I would be glad to eat some pickled sardines before…

As the crew around me start to tied the ropes to the docks, I descend down the boarding ramp and took in the sight that is the dock of this island.

The port town we are in right now is called the Port Cane, one heck of name but that hardly surprised me especially after the Honey Docks, and it has the feeling of a trading port more than Temasek in many ways.

For one, the harbour is wider in terms of the docking area, the stone and wood platforms that the trading and the occasional marine vessels parks at have more spaces in between that spreads out all across the entirety of the port itself, the platforms themselves are wide enough to allow entire carriages to ride though with more than enough space to disembark.

The town itself is filled with buildings of white brick of various sizes and heights with several large wooden buildings all dotted about, all with coloured roofs of all sorts. The place is bustling, with the streets filled with people as well as workers of all sorts of manual jobs. I think I saw a few buildings in the middle of construction too.

But if there’s one thing that separate this port from Temasek…

“Why is everyone in a hurry?” I wonder out loud as a few coolies with sacks of something on their shirtless backs nearly bumped into me. Everyone in the harbour seems to be almost in the rush, a few keep on shuffling past each other on their way to their ships. It’s like its rush hour and everyone is trying to complete their job at exactly the same place at the same time.

“This is the usual for Port Cane.” Silvia tells me as she slowly walks down the ramp while our crew mates all start alighting one after another, “Especially now, when it’s past noon. A lot of ships often arrived during this time, with things to trade and sell. After all, this place is one of the largest exporters of sugar in the East Blue.”

“Ah…”

“Everything seems to be in order, Silvia.” Lee tells her as he walks down the ramp, “We should be able to settle this by this evening, if we are quick enough.”

“Good to hear.” She nodded before turning to me, “Why don’t you take a walk around town? We’ll only be staying for about three days, so take in the sights while you can.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s mostly just some paperwork and a little bargaining here and there.” Lee assures me, “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Just go and have a goof time.” Silvia tells me with a smile, “It’s not every day you come to Gula, after all.”

“…Okay. Thanks. Where do I meet you guys after?”

“There’s a bar near the docks that goes by the name Thirsty Siren.” He points out to me, “We’re planning on meeting at about sunset, which is about…” He did a mental calculation before answering, “Three hours from now. Just tell them our names and they will let you through.”

“Noted.”

* * *

 

 

While the docks are busy with workers, the town itself isn’t that different. Only instead of workers, you get businessmen and women all running about the place, not really what I would consider tourist attracting.

But credit is due when credit is due. The town is bustling with all sorts of things that I might imagine to find on the island that is famous for its sugar export. There are confectioneries of all sorts, from baked desserts like muffins and macaroons, to cold treats like parfaits and pudding, there are sweets of all sorts in almost every shop in the street.

Hell, there’s one crepe store in every few blocks!

Of course, there are shops that sells other things, but the sweet shops almost dominated them, each with a sign of which sugar plantation the sugar came from along with its address and Den-Den Mushi number. Advertisements for the win; there's business for the shop _and_ potential future clients for the plantations.

With that mind, I am right now wandering down the street of baked goods chewing on a simple glazed donut, one of a couple dozen that I have bought with the intention of sharing with Kris along with my other goods of cinnamon rolls, a bag of muffins of various flavours and a big bag of saltwater taffy. He did help me in my ‘fight’ with Gin back in the straits, and who doesn’t like sweets, right?

As I walk down the road, the street lights start to turn on to my surprise, the ever-darkening sky proof of the time.

“Wow… the time really flew by…” I muttered out as I took another bite out of my donut, “Guess I better head to the bar…”

I took a look around to get my bearings, before realizing that I have gone a little too far inland for my taste. I did just turn at random directions at random junctions in the streets, just following the smell most of the time.

Crap, I didn’t check for a map of this place before wandering off… What to do, what to do…? I wonder if I can retrace my steps back to the docks?

“Hey, there. It’s a bit late for a kid to be out like that. It could be dangerous.”

A voice suddenly spoke to me from behind; I felt the veins in my head throb at that sentence as I turn back with the very intention to scream at him.

“I’m FUCKING TWENTY, you fucking…ass…hole…”

The words died in my mouth as I saw who it was that I shouted at.

He is tall for a man, with a build that looks like he wrestles bears for fun despite the wrinkles on his face that indicates his age very clearly. Aging grey hair covers his scalp with an equally greying beard, a surgical scar that went around his left eye. He is wearing red Hawaiian shirt and beige shorts and straw sandals, his mouth in a big grin with his eyes gleaming in the setting sun that seems to indicate promised death.

“Oh, ho… quite a foul mouth one, aren’t ya?” Monkey D. Garp stated with his grin ever growing wider.

Oh, fuck my life. Of all the people I could have swear to, it has to be the one that can dent metal with his non-Armament fists. My scales may have stopped Gin’s bone-breaking strikes, but I doubt it will hold under the might that may have and could dent metal.

“U-Um…”

“BUAHAHAHA!!” The larger than life marine officer suddenly laughed, “They keep getting younger, don’t they? But seriously kid, staying out this late is dangerous, there are a lot of bad guys out there ready to kidnap such a young little girl, especially one as pretty as you.”

I felt my veins pop at that declaration. Is he seriously still treating me like a damn kid?! Didn’t he hear what I just said?!

“Tell you what, I’ll escort you back to your parents, how about that? Just leave it to good old Garp! I’ll keep you safe, little girl!”

Okay, that’s it! Consequences be damned!

“I said I am TWENTY!!” I screamed as I slam my fist, unknowingly transformed, into his gut hard.

I felt the feeling my fist hitting his body, which then translates into my mind like hitting a damn wall instead of flesh. My anger dissipates slightly only to return in back shock and horror as to the realization of what I just did in a fit of rage, and rising possibility of me getting pwned way harder than Sen ever did.

“Wow… I actually felt that one.” He laughed, “Almost remind me of my own grandson there. But you know, good kids shouldn’t do that.” His eyes narrowed slightly as it felt like his frame somehow got larger than he already is, “And bad kids… need to be punished for doing it!”

I felt something impact my head and the world turns black.

* * *

 

Vice Admiral Garp wasn’t someone who hurt kids, on purpose anyways. He always adored the little shits, no matter how terrible they can be at times.

He is, however, also a very keen believer of the idea of ‘tough love’, and often takes it a little too far at times. His own grandchild can attest to that.

As such, whenever he saw any kid misbehaving, he would often punish them with a good whack to the head, often very lightly to him which means a good concussion to the poor child.

Which is what happened right here. After Rein slams her fist into his gut in what he believes to be an act of rebellious nature, he took it to himself to ‘educate’ the poor girl (HA!) by lightly whacking her in the head. But due to either a lack of control, or just too used to his grandson’s steel-hard skull, his light whack became an actual punch that crashes her head into the pavement hard, cracking the concrete slightly.

Garp, while satisfied with his actions, is left stunned when the poor girl didn’t get back up.

“Uh…” He kneels down to her ‘corpse’ and felt her wrist, breathing a sigh of relief when he found a pulse, “Oh, thank the heavens. For a second there, I thought I might have actually killed the poor girl…” He glances around, the on-lookers all whispering to each other, mostly to the fact that an old man seemingly just hit an innocent girl.

Although in his defence, she did strike first.

“Now what to do with you…?”

“Garp?”

He flinched when he heard that voice, that eerily familiar voice. He glanced among the crowd to see a lone person walking through and out of them, “Sen? What are you doing here?”

“Same quest…ion…”

The hidden dragon took a good look at the scene; his own pupil is lying unconscious with her face seemingly crashed through the pavement with one of her arms transformed to its dragon form, the marine Vice-Admiral standing next to her with a slightly guilty look on his face.

“Garp… did you just punch my student into the ground?”

“S-Student?! Her?!” The marine hero cries out in shock, “And you have a student?!”

“You didn’t answer my question.” He points out as he took a step forward, this time the ground cracked under his sole, “Did you. Punch. My. Student?”

“Ah…” He scratches his head sheepishly, “…She hit me first…?”

He immediately regretted his answer as the air cracked and a fist is slammed into his face.

* * *

 

The first thing I notice when I opened my eyes is that the night sky isn’t visible anymore, that I am staring up to a stone ceiling with a lone fan spinning monotonously.

The second thing is that I seem to be lying on a combination of two wooden chairs place together to make a somewhat uncomfortable bed.

The third is that my head felt like it is splitting four ways and back.

The last thing is that there seems to be music playing in the background with the amalgamation of multiple voices all speaking, and cheering…?

“Oh, Rein. You’re awake.”

A familiar voice calls to me as I glanced to my side, Gord sitting in front of me with a wooden mug in his hand. “You doing okay?” He asked.

“…Huh?”

“Don’t move just yet.” The ship’s cook moved aside as Justin suddenly came into view and starts to examine my eye, “A slight concussion, but otherwise you _look_ fine…”

“What…?” I looked at her in confusion as she walks off.

“You were unconscious for the past hour.” Gord tells me as he took a sip from his mug, “Sen went out to look for you and then came back with you just blacked out.”

“Unconscious…?” I then recalled what happened and shot back up, before regretting it as the headache got worst from me doing that, “Gah! My head… Garp hits harder than I thought.”

“That’s kind of in his MO.” Silvia points out, the ship captain sitting on the table next to me chugging down a mug of most likely alcohol, “Garp the Fist, the Marine Hero. Got to say, never thought I’ll meet an actual living legend like, ever.”

“Guess fate has a funny way of attracting weird fellows to other weird fellows, huh?” Lee stated as he chomps down on some fries, “Not as funny as what is happening right now, though.”

“Huh?” I turn my attention to the small but loud crowd by one of the tables, where Sen is-Is he grabbing Vice Admiral Garp by the back his head in a death grip, with bandages around it no less, and is actually pushing him down to his KNEES!?

“Ow, ow, ow!! Okay! Okay! I get it! I get it!” The old marine cries out in _pain_ , “Sorry for hitting your student! I didn’t even know you have a student!!”

“Sorry, I didn’t quite hear that.” My mentor stated as his grip seems to tighten with the poor old man crying out as a result, “Mind repeating that?”

“Se-Seriously! How many times do I have to repeat it–”

“Until I hear it right!” He growled, before noticing my gaze on him, “Oh, hey. You’re awake.” He then proceeds to slam Garp’s head into the ground hard, sticking his face through the wooden floor. He then walks up to me, “How are you feeling?”

“A killer headache-Ow!” I accidentally rub a bump on my head that may have been cause from the marine hero’s fist, “And… a slight bump, I guess.”

“Normally your skull should have caved in.” Justin points out as I feel her pressing a bag filled with ice on the bump, “But what do I know? You’re the one with Devil Fruit powers.”

I let out hiss from the contact before sighing as the coolness relief some of the pain. “Guess this is the same as that time with the whole bullet shot thing?”

“Not really. If you went dragon at the last minute, you wouldn’t be knocked unconscious; but you still would get one hell of a concussion.” Sen stated, “While Garp is well-known for his lack of a social conduct, he does know when to reel in his strength. The problem is the scale he is using to measure, which is say that his family is has some monster blood in them.”

“Can’t agree with that logic.” Garp’s muffled voice sounds out from the floorboards, before he manages to get his head out with a solid pop, “My own grandpappy hit just as hard, you know.”

Somehow, I can find that possible. After all, Luffy did survive his onslaught for about his entire life and became stronger than most people his own age, and that was before he became a rubber-man. And I think Dragon has suffered the same fate too…? Guess that’s one of the reasons he became the world’s most wanted man…

“Like grandfather, like grandson…” My mentor let out a low groan at that, “And now that she is awake, I believe there’s something you need say to her, isn’t there Garp?”

“Yeah, yeah…” He sighed, “Sorry for knocking you out back there, kid. Guess I don’t know my own strength.”

“And…?”

“What else do you want me to say!?” The marine Vice Admiral cried, “What, ‘I’ll buy you a round’–”

“Your words, not mine!”

“Wait, what?”

Sen suddenly raises his mug in the air as he shouted, “You heard the man! The next round of drinks will be his treat tonight!!”

“HURRAAAYYY!!!”

“W-Wait a moment, there! I didn’t say everyone!”

“Hm?” Sen glanced at him as he flexes his fingers, cracking his knuckles in the process, “What was that?”

“Oh! N-Nothing…”

“That’s what I thought.”

I let out a small chuckle as I saw Garp the Fist completely defeated at his table as he hesitantly took out his wallet. To think that the hero of the Marines is brought down by Sen of all people, and so one-sidedly too…

But in hindsight, with what Sen has been shown to be capable of, with defeating a Sea King with singe-handed and even annihilating one of Don Krieg’s large galleons with just the flick of his finger, it would make sense that he is at least on equal footing, maybe stronger, as the man who has survived through the same age as three of the Four Emperors.

“Here.” I was then handed a large wooden mug that is filled with beer, or at least I originally thought it was before I smelled the sweet scent of soda, “Soda for the kid. There’s no way I’m letting an underaged girl drink.”

My eyebrows twitched at that comment as I raise my fist ready to whack the Vice Admiral, only to be stopped by Justin holding onto my wrist.

“Let it go, Rein.” She tells me, “I’m not treating two concussions on the same person tonight.”

“But he–”

“And you remember what happened last time you drink, _right_?”

I flinched before my face brightened at that fact. Damn it, does she have to keep holding that over my head!? Just one time, and it is already a running joke.

“Fine…” I grumbles as I took the mug and sip the fizzy drink. Hm, sweet but not overpowering, with a slight bitter aftertaste that reminds caramel. Not bad for a damn soda. I wonder if I can get cola here…?

* * *

 

A few more rounds later, and most of the crew is completely plastered and has started a drunk party befitting a bar.

I was forced to stay out of the party; doctor’s order to not aggravate my concussion. Not that I would join in, anyway. I need to be at least tipsy to attempt to enter.

As such, I have situated myself at a table on my lonesome as Gord and the others all have a great time while I just chew on my saltwater taffy. The treats that I have procurer are mostly safe, with the exception of the donuts that are mostly squashed and dirty from being dropped all over the pavement. It’s a good thing I have the muffins wrapped up when I bought them.

“Hey there, kid.”

I grunted as Garp sat down in front of me, he let out a sigh at my actions, “Come on, I apologized, didn’t I?”

I frowned and looked away. I am not pouting. No matter what other people says, I am NOT pouting, you hear!!

“You know, Sen told me everything about you.”

I flinched as the fact of a MARINE, a Vice-Admiral no less, knows my identity and the world changing secrets I carry filled me with dread. God dammit, Sen, why did you do this!? You know how much I’ve freaked out when I thought you were one!! Why did you tell a real one instead!?

“It must be rough, being turned into a girl against your will.”

Wait, what?

“I mean, it’s one thing to just lose an arm, or even a leg, but to lose your dick? That’s not a thing any man would want to experience.”

“…Huh?” I then realized what he means and immediately nodded in reply, “A-Ah! Y-Yes! T-That… it was… tough…” So, Sen didn’t tell him everything? Just the fact that I used to be man? Come to think of it, I think he said the same thing to Silvia as well…

“I ha-*BURP*have no doubt it was!” The old marine stated with a slight burp. Now that I took a good look, I think his face is tinted red. Guess he’s a little tipsy right now. “So, I understand why you want to appear to be a grown-up to many others. To appear tough! But your body is that of a young girl now, not some strong man!”

Did… did he still call me a damn KID!? Not only that, he actually thought I am a weak little girl!?

“As such, you really need to remember that there are places that are too dangerous for a young girl to go–”

“HEY!” I shouted as I grab his shirt by its collar and glares right into his eyes, “You better listen up, you sexist violent brute of a marine. First of all, and this is the last time I’m saying this, I’m TWENTY!! Despite my height, I’m a fully grown adult!! So, don’t you dare treat me like a kid, you hear me!?” He blinked before nodding somewhat hesitantly, “Lastly, just because I’m a damn girl doesn’t make me weak! Just last week, I fought head on against Gin of the Krieg Pirates, and I manage to punch him across his ship, and cracked a few ribs of his!!”

“Wait, you fought Gin–!?”

“And such, if you are going to call me weak one more time…” I grow out my tail and raise it up behind me in a way that the old marine can see it, “I’m going to try and find out if I can pop a human head off by squeezing hard enough.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Garp suddenly laughed out loud to my confusion, “Damn, that was a better sobering method that Tsuyu’s! Never thought getting threaten works better than getting tossed into the ocean!”

“…What in…?”

“Sorry for the whole sexist thing with you.” He chuckles with no sense of guilt of saying that, “Although, I wasn’t really trying to sexist with you. Tsuyu would have my head if she finds out! I’m just looking out for you. It doesn’t matter that you are a fully grown adult in your standards, you’re still the size of a damn kid! Even if you have Devil Fruit powers, there are plenty of ways to work around it and leave you extremely vulnerable. Trust me, I know a Captain that has that exact experience. Good thing she was and is still a hard ass without them.”

“So…?”

“Look, all I’m saying that you have be careful out there.” He points out firmly, “I have been in the Marines for several decades now, and I have encountered some fucking messed up shit in my long career. A lot of them has to do with young girls who looked like you and some are actually as tough as you. And none of them are pretty to look at.”

“Oh… I see…” I sheepishly let go of his collar as I let out a small cough with my ears burning, “Sorry about… all of that. I’m just… a little sensitive about my height.”

“That’s an understatement!” Gord shouted from across the room.

“Just drink your liver away, you ass!!” I shouted back.

“Hey, I don’t blame you!” He laughed, “If I’m your height at your age, I would be a little sensitive about it too.”

“...Thanks.”

“So, were you lying about the whole punching Gin of the Krieg Pirates?”

“What, no!! It really happened!!”

“You do have a nice punch, but I highly doubt it’s good enough to deal with Don Krieg’s right-hand man.”

“I’m telling you, it really happened, damn it!!”

“Oh yeah? Want to prove it?”

“I will!”

I ended up arm wrestling the large marine, and losing spectacularly. Guess Sen wasn’t kidding when he said he was holding back before…

* * *

 

Garp left the next morning, saying something about visiting his grandson. Got to say, he is pretty nice guy once you get to know him, even if he is a bit too wild for a marine Vice Admiral. I can now see where Luffy got his free-spirit from, and the reason of why he is afraid of him in the first place.

We left the following morning, with Silvia managing to sort things out with the sugar plantation with absolute ease and managing to get the supplies plus the sugar goods within a single day. Talk about fast!

And now, we are three days out in the open seas on our way to Twilight Isles, where we will be staying for about a couple of days before finally heading towards Dawn Island. I am not looking forward to it, especially with the knowledge that Garp is heading there as we speak.

Time might be on my side, though. Due to the lack of news about a certain freckled rookie who should be in the seas raising havoc and his reputation, it must mean that Ace haven’t left the island yet. That, or he has already left and is still have ways to go before becoming the fandom most beloved character. As long as I don’t encounter him, the plot should proceed on as it should.

“Strays on the portside!”

The lookout suddenly shouted, catching everyone attention as well as mine, I stopping my sword exercises as I dashed towards the railings to see who they spotted and my heart nearly stopped when I noticed a few things.

One, it is a small dingy that looks like a banana with a pair of pedals on its sides and what looks like an ignition port at the back where the rudder should be.

Two, there are two men standing somewhat awkwardly on the ‘boat’ waving right at us.

Lastly, one of them has freckles on his face with black greasy hair and a red bead necklace, with an orange hat with a pair of circular accessories that depicts a smiley face and a frowny face.

…Oh, why did I jinx myself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes! Garp enters the story! Got to say, I wasn’t actually planning on bringing him in for the prologue, but with what I am planning for the next part, I find it appropriate to bring in the Marine Hero after all. I sure hope I managed to get Garp personality right, there wasn’t much I can go on besides him being exactly like Luffy with a few small exceptions.
> 
> And yes, Ace has showed himself! Trust me when I say thing, I have planned to show off Ace from the very beginning. I thought it might be fun, with what I am planning for the next couple of chapters~ Just you wait! It is going to be EPIC~!
> 
> With that, I thank you all for reading this!


	10. Twilight isles

I felt my eyebrow twitch as a clean bone flew over my head, the scene in front of me isn’t something I really wish to witness at all.

When we pull the two men, Ace and his companion, up onto the Silver Fang, they thanked us for rescuing them and admitting that they are completely lost and have no idea where the closest island is. Being the good fellow that she is, Silvia decides to take them to Twilight Isles with us. As Ace thanked us, their stomachs let out a loud growl. After exchanging a small laughter, she invited them to join us in the mess hall for lunch.

And I think she is already regretting her decision to do so.

The two men, one being the son of Roger and the future commander of the Whitebeard pirates as well as the bearer of the initial ‘D’, immediately starts chowing down on almost every meal Gord has prepared for the crew to eat, so much that he is struggling to keep up with their appetites; well, one of them anyways.

As I absent-mindedly stir about my bowl of stew, the lone bowl I was able to save from his grasp, my eyes keep looking and studying the brother of the future pirate king.

If it isn’t obvious enough, Ace at this point isn’t anyone special, his name isn’t that well-known at this point. Besides his signature orange hat and black pants, he also dons a yellow short-sleeved dress shirt left opened to showcase his chiselled pecs and abs to the world at large, his canon outfit for when he was just starting out which means he hasn’t start up the Spade Pirates yet.

And that would mean that his companion is probably his first mate, whose name escapes me. He is a rather intriguing individual, with that navy-blue mask over his eyes. He has spiky long light blue hair and is wearing long green coat that stretches down to his knees over his bare chest, along with a pair of trousers with a rose design on the bottom left which is held up by a belt along with a pair of dark knee-length boots.

I couldn’t find any translation for the spin-off novel that chronicling Ace’s journey from an infamous rookie pirate to Fire Fist Ace, so any information about him at this point in time is pretty much a mystery to me. But I do remember reading a small wiki page on the first chapter of the novel, which tells us how he got his first crewmember, whose name still escapes me.

But, wait a minute…

If he got his first mate already… then where did he got the rest of his crew?

I mean, if weren’t for us coincidentally finding them, they might be left lost in the open ocean and be set adrift for a very long time.

So… if that’s the case, was the Silver Fang picking them up something that is bound to happen anyways? If that’s so, is him heading to the Twilight Isles part of his journey too? I mean, I would hate to just interrupt his journey on just a coincidence meeting… the last thing I need is to butterfly away him becoming Fire Fist.

“…say…” Lee sitting next to me decide to speak up, “We’ve never gotten your names. Why don’t I start first? I’m Lee, the quartermaster of this vessel, this is Rein, our ship guard,” I gave them a mock salute, “and you’ve meet Silvia, our captain.” She waved at them from that declaration, “And you are…?”

“Hmph?” Ace swallows his meal, literally, as he replies, “Oh, I’m Ace. Portgas D. Ace. And this is Masked Deuce.”

His companion raises his hand with a friendly, “Yo.” before going back to eating.

“Wait, his name is Masked Deuce?” I asked curiously, “As in it is his legal name, or…”

“It’s just what I call him.” He stated with a chuckle.

“Okay, Ace.” Lee nodded, “Just out of curiosity, what exactly were the two of you doing on the open sea on that dingy? I doubt you’re just cruising about and got lost.”

“It was that.” Deuce tells us tiredly, much to our bewilderment, “We were stranded on a deserted island and somehow, with a little ingenuity, manages to build a raft to escape to the open sea. But then someone here forgotten to mention that he doesn’t know how to navigate.”

“Hey, you didn’t ask.”

“That’s not the point here!!” He shouted before letting out a sigh, “So, anyways… we ended up just drifting about the open waters, trying to find any land nearby. We were just about to go through our supplies until you people show up.”

“Well…” Silvia muses a little with a wry smile, “With a man with that appetite, it’s bound to happen.”

We all glanced at the gluttonous Ace who is still stuffing his face full with food. “Hm? What’s the matter–Zzz…” He is cut off from finishing his sentence as he just splats his face into the dish of seafood risotto, loud snoring can be heard from him.

“Uh…”

His first mate shrugs his shoulders, “Yeah, that happens all the time.” Deuce sighs.

“Narcolepsy.” Justin diagnosed from her spot on the table next to ours, “But this is the first time I’ve seen a case like his.”

“So _that’s_ the name of that symptom… Anyways…not to sound rude or anything…” He points at Kris, who also manages to save a bowl of stew along with a few roasted shrimps, with the fishmen looking at us in confusion, “What’s with the fishman? Did you pick him up from somewhere? Because the fishmen I know are…”

“He’s a part of the crew too.” Silvia assures him, “And…” She glanced at him, Kris shaking his head, “Nope, he doesn’t have any affiliation with that band of barbaric monsters. No offense.”

“None taken.” The fishman shrugs his shoulder before returning to his meal.

“Ah, I see.” The masked man nodded, “Though it is odd, seeing a fishman among us being all… normal.”

“Kris is just like any one of us.” I tell him, “His race has nothing to do with it.”

“Zzz–Mmph! W-Wha…? What happened?”

Ace took this time to finally wake up from his sudden nap, lifting his now rice-covered face from the plate as he glances around him. “Damn it, did I just fell asleep again?”

“Look at the bright side.” Deuce pointed out with a grin. “At least you didn’t fell into the bowl of stew.”

We all shared a good laugh as the meal time carries on uninterrupted.

* * *

 

After that, the days where Ace and Deuce became our traveling companions were hectic as all heck.

As it turns out, as I myself have unfortunately encountered first-hand, Ace does have his Devil Fruit powers.

It is obvious, after you crashes into the guy and instead of smacking him into ground, you went right through the guy and got your jacket on fire. Also, you might had in a panic got rid of the burning fabric and accidentally tossing right into the box of gunpowder which SOMEONE left out in the open, which in turn nearly blow the ship in half!

That was not a good day…

Other than that, they were quite a humble duo, with them just hanging about on the deck doing their own thing, occasionally helping us out.

Or in Ace’s case, try to help and end up sleeping right in the middle of it.

Justin has put it on her shoulders to try and help his condition even by a little bit, but it’s to no avail as the results all ended up the same either way. She still determined to at least find out the trigger for his Narcolepsy, though, no matter how random it is.

I managed to talk to them a few times, especially Deuce as he isn’t as… overwhelming as his captain.

Besides Ace’s obvious goals that I would not let him declare in the open sea where any one of my crew mates are close to a cannon or firearm, the last thing I need is for the Silver Fang to burn to ashes from people just firing without asking, I’ve learned of Deuce own goals for traveling out to sea.

Apparently, he is a med college dropout who decided to head out into sea to fulfil his own dreams of writing adventure novels. Not what I would have expected from someone with his taste in clothing, but from what I’ve read of the samples of his first story, he definitely has it in him.

Time soon flew us by, and in long last, we’ve reached our destination.

* * *

 

 “Land ahoy! Port Royalise up ahead!!”

The moment the lookout from the crow’s nest shouted out that message late into the afternoon, almost every crew member, like before, all got into their landing stations in preparation for docking. As I helped out with the ropes, I took a small moment to glance at the approaching landmass over the horizon.

From what is written in the goddess’ guidebook, the Twilight Isles is comprised of two islands with one being larger by a few square miles, the larger one acting as sort of a mainland hub for travellers and other ships while the smaller one is less occupied due to its massive forests that covers every part of the island along with numerous small hills.

It is here which the Britt Kingdom, the ruling patriarch of this island is founded and established, along with its capital of Brittia which is situated in the heart of the island on the foot of a mountain. The Britt Kingdom itself is a relatively new country, only founded just a few decades ago and only just been invited to this year’s Reverie.

It is a small kingdom that has quite a bit of a history, being the end result of a century-long civil war between its original rulers of what is now the defunct Latian Kingdom and what was originally just a peasant uprising that became a rebellion army all together. From what is written down, the previous rulers were pretty much selfish pricks that just did whatever they damn pleased. From over-taxing its citizens, especially the lower class like farmers, to just capturing people who has caught their fancy, or has wronged them in some way, to be used as slaves.

Eventually, the tension finally snapped when a commoner straight up attacked and killed a member of the royal court in broad daylight. That single act of rebellion sparks the start of an uprising from the commoner folk which later evolved into a bloody civil war that tore the kingdom from the inside and outside.

In the end, the rebellion is triumph with the Latian Kingdom getting overthrown with its royalty are either executed or exiled from the island all together, and is renamed the Britt Kingdom, after the person who has killed the first noble all those years ago. And after that, they manage to rebuilt the entire kingdom and made it even stronger than before.

And its port town shows it too.

Port Royalise is the port that has a direct uninterrupted road towards the capital, as well as it being its biggest trading town. Which, unfortunately, made it to a valued target for all sorts of lowlifes. And because of that, there are turrets built into walls that border around the town facing the sea, with each possessing three long barrels.

The harbour isn’t very big, with enough spots for about ten ships with a small area dedicated for rowboats from the larger ships anchored in the deeper waters, while the town itself is a rather large city, on the same scale as Gula if added a few square yards. Its buildings are made of stone bricks, with a few taller buildings standing out here and there.

In the middle of it is a large channel of water that seems to flow through the town and split into two when it reaches a certain point before splitting again and looping back around. In the channel are a couple of boats that seems to be acting as ferries of sorts that are rowing up and down the waterway.

And to top it all over, smack right in the middle of it is a large fortress of sorts. Its four towers built high above all the other buildings with a central tower being the highest of them all, its navy blue roofs conical in nature that has a flag pole on each one flying a triangular flag of certain colours, with the one on the central tower having the rectangular flag of the kingdom: white with red lines crossed diagonally and a shield crest that has a large dragon head in the middle of it.

“Talk about huge…” I muttered out as I tied the ropes onto the railings.

“It is, isn’t?” Sen stated, patting his palms together to clear away some straws stuck to them, “For a kingdom that is still recovering from that civil war of theirs, they managed to make great progress. For example, that district over to the left there was–”

“You can share your history lessons later, Sen.” Silvia tells us, “For now, form up near the main mast. I like to have a small briefing first.”

“Well, it has been fun!” Ace calls out as he and Deuce stepped onto the railings, before turning and giving us a polite bow, “Thank you again for the ride, but we have to skedaddle now.”

“May we meet again.” His first mate stated with a wave.

“Take care now!” Lee tells them as they leap off the ship and ran into the town.

“Don’t get stranded again, okay!?” Gord added on.

Soon enough, their figures disappear into the crowd. Welp, I guess that’ll be the last time I’ll be seeing of them for a long while. With luck, I’ll probably never see them until maybe when Fire Fist Ace makes the news.

* * *

 

After all of that, Silvia issues out jobs for our crew to do in our day here with a few exceptions getting shore leave, giving us the deadline to be back at least before midnight to prepare for the trip for tomorrow. Sen, despite people really wanting him to help with the resupplying, decided to take the shore leave and brought me on a small tour around the town.

And got to say, there is a lot of things he told me over the span of a few hours.

For example; the district on the south-east part of town, the most inland portion of the town, was once one of the largest areas of mass-carnage in the civil war, being the plot of land that the defenders of Port Royalise, when it was called Fortress Lyn, has dedicated their forces to protecting via constant cannon fire and even resorting to prototype landmines of all things at the tail end of the war. Its soil is soaked in so much blood, oil and gunpowder that, according to him, no grass or weed will ever grow there ever again.

And now, thanks to half-a-decade of work digging up all of the landmines with almost disastrous affect, that plot of soil is integrated into the town as its, funnily enough, biggest commercial district with businesses of all kinds moving there due to the people traffic it gets from being the closest to the gate.

To turn that bloody wasteland into the district filled with businesses of all kinds, these people are definitely a tenacious bunch.

That also brings us to our current location, in the town square which houses the entrance to the bridge that leads into the fortress I saw in the distance.

The square itself is huge, with a wooden stage erected in the middle of it that has what I presume is the stand for the Den-Den Mushi variant of a microphone, along with a couple of fountains to loosen the atmosphere. Around the edges of the square are stores of various stands selling all sorts of things, from knickknacks of all kinds from cheap accessories and jewelleries to wooden figures of many kinds.

But what stands out is the large stature erected near the wooden stage, a bronze stature of a lone man in a knightly armour holding his sword up in a form a salute while his helmet is tucked under his arm.

“Who’s this guy?” I asked, “Must be important and famous to get his own stature.”

“Famous is right.” Sen tells me, “That right there, is the founder of the Britt Kingdom himself, King Arthurious Peragon.”

“The founder, huh…?” So, this is the guy that ended the Latian Kingdom…? Namesake aside, he definitely looks like someone who could be a parallel to the King of Knights himself.

“Arthurious is the one that led the rebellion to victory in the tail end of the war.” He explains, “A hero of the common people, he is as virtuous and kind to his allies as he is fierce and ruthless to his enemies on the battle field. It is said that his skills with the sword is unmatched as is his skills as a leader, being able to overturn a losing battle every time.”

“That’s… kind of exaggerating a little.” I pointed out.

“Maybe so, but the fact that he is strong is fact. For example, you see that sword?” He then points at the statue’s sword, an ornate longsword with an arc cross guard with a couple of indentions around the ricasso, “That’s the Elderburn, the Sword of the Absolute Monarch. It is given to him by a great sage which has aided him in his many battles, including in his final one in which he finally overthrows the Latian Kingdom.”

Elderburn? That’s a weird ass name. But given a sword by some greater power… the parallels just keep coming up, huh?

“Although the dumb name itself was his idea.” Sen added on with a sigh, “I told him that it was called Grimsalve, but noooooooo~ He is like, ‘It’s too dark and grim…’ and changed it! Like, is Elderburn any better!?”

Wait, did he suggest what I think he is suggesting…!?

“Sen, YOU are the ‘great sage’!?”

“Oh, did I not mention that?” He stated with a thoughtful look, “Yeah, it was me, but I went by a different name at the time.”

“Wait, that means…” I did a mental calculation before remembering a certain fact about him, “Sen… how old ARE you?”

“Hm… that’s… a really good question…” He then starts counting with his finger, “Taking today’s date in consideration, I should be around… twenty… hundred… around nine hundred this year, give or take.”

“You’re almost a millennium old!?”

Holy crap! I did suspect his age to be in the triple digits at least, but to be THIS old!? That’s insane!! Not including the giants, the oldest age I have known of this world is Kureha with her youthful hundred over years old! And that’s not including the Five Elder Stars, who I am certain is as old as the World Government itself!

Hold on… if he is almost a thousand years old… then wouldn’t it be possible that he has live through the void century? Then… the truth behind that missing world history… he could have the answer! The answer that every One Piece fans has only theorized about!!

“Hey, Sen! Do you know about the Void–”

“NO.”

A single word stops my lips from moving, as he suddenly start glaring at me with the air suddenly feeling VERY heavy. My knees nearly buckle under my own weight as I could only stare in horror and fear, my lungs refusing to take in air and every part of my body is screaming to run yet locking up from the overwhelming fear.

Is… could this be…!?

“I know what you must be thinking, but under no circumstances, and I mean NO circumstances, are you to ask me about that forgotten history.” He stated firmly, “The last person I have gave that warning to ignored it and got his entire island burned to the ground by the five paranoid bastards up on that red mountain. I do not want that to happen to you, or the East Traders. Is. That. Clear?”

“Cr…Cr…Crystal…Cl…Cl…Clear…”

He seemingly accepted the reply I managed to choke out, before the pressure suddenly lifted and air rushes back into my lungs causing me to cough out a couple of times. Was… was that Conqueror Haki? Sen has that power that is rumoured to only reside in one in a billion? If I didn’t think he is overpowered before… this definitely solidifies it.

“Sorry for the rough treatment.” He apologized as he rubbed his neck sheepishly, “But the way you wanted to ask me has brought back some… rather painful memories…”

My mind immediately went to part of his warning, about someone’s island getting burned to the ground due to searching for the Void Century. One island came to mind, along with its survivor.

“Were you… a citizen of Ohara?”

That question got one heck of a reaction from him as he immediately flinches before lowering the rim of his hat over his eyes, “…In a sense… yes. I was a part of Ohara at one point in my life, until the…”

“Buster Call?”

“…Yeah, that…” He let out a sigh, “Ohara was… a place of great knowledge with scholars from all walks of life working together under a single desire to learn everything about the world as they can. But… sometimes that desire can lead to dangerous territories, territories that the World Government would rather you not intrude if you value your life. Sadly, despite my warnings to NOT look into the Void Century, they dwell into the lion den, and stepped on every lion sleeping there.” I saw his other hand clenched into a tight fist, “Clover… you stupid, stupid, stupid idiot…”

“…Were you there?” I asked, before immediately realised how insensitive that question was, “I-I mean, besides Robin, there shouldn’t be any other survivors. And I wanted to know if…You know…”

Sen looked at me for a moment, I feeling the pressure coming in before it resided as he let out another sigh, “No… no, I wasn’t. If I were there, I would have sunk the entire fleet and kill everyone onboard starting with that lava mutt before heading to Mariejois to tear those old bastards’ asses so much that they’ll need to be seating on the toilet twenty-four seven.”

…okay, talk about one heck of a grudge… and I can picture that happening too, despite how gruesome it might be…

“…Sorry for bringing that up…” I apologized, “I…I didn’t know that you’re–”

*GROWL*

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

I felt my face burn while Sen let out a loud laugh at my expense. Damn it, stomach, really!? First at Riza with Suiren and now here!?

“SAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” He howled in laughter, “Oh man, you stomach has the best timing ever!!”

“S-Shut up!!”

“Sahaha… oh, I needed that…” He then turns to me with a smile, “How about we get some dinner before we head back?”

“…Yeah.” I nodded with a smile of my own, “Let’s.”

* * *

 

We find ourselves in a small diner near the docks to have our dinner, one that goes by the name Pisces’ Kitchen(I swear, this names just keep getting lamer and lazier with each new place…).

As we wait for our meals to arrive, I decided to ask Sen more about his involvement in the founding of the Britt Kingdom.

“So… you’re the one that gave Arthurious his sword.” I listed out, “The very same sword that would be known as the Sword of Absolute Monarchy?”

“Yup, although I never did find out why the extra title is… well, that.”

“Yeah, but that’s besides the point.” I pointed out before adding on, “Is there anything else you’ve contributed to the rebellion?”

“Hm… well, I did train Arthurious in swordplay, amongst many things…” Sen listed on, “And also… help build their command center, give him intel on the enemies a few times, told him about the secret passage under the castle which he used to free the captured slaves, broke him out of prison a couple of times–”

“Did you say prison?”

“He got caught by one of their generals, a dumb idiot who only caught him due to him coincidentally finding him literally with his pants down. The second time is on purpose, in a plan which involves a distraction and a super easy assassination attempt.”

“Oh. Carry on.”

“Thank you. Now where was I–Oh, yes! And I told him where the dumb king was hiding that help end the damn war. Also, I’m the priest for his wedding ceremony.”

“You’re… REALLY involved in the war, aren’t you?” I pointed out in surprise.

“It was a way to kill time, to be honest.” He explains, “And it helps that Arthurious is pretty decent guy. Although his jokes are terrible…”

“Is that so…?”

“Here’s your order.”

The waitress comes to our table and delivers our meals, swiftly and carefully placing the plates of food in front of us, “Beef stroganoff and whiskey for the adult. And one dinner set for the kid. Enjoy your meals.”

I let loose a little grumble at her words as I stab my Salisbury steak, “I’m fucking twenty…”

“I thought you’ll get used to it at this point.” Sen points out as he slurps his noodles, “And besides, despite the cons, there are a lot of upsides to being that short.”

“Such as…?”

“…You can get a kid discount at restaurants?”

“Besides the obvious.”

“…”

“Yeah, didn’t think so.”

* * *

 

By the time we finish our dinner and left the diner, the sun has long set over the horizon and the moon has rise into the dark blue sky. Seeing that there’s still a fair bit of time before midnight, we decided to take our time walking back to the Silver Fang and just enjoy to quiet evening.

I took in the beautiful night sky, the half-moon shining down on us as the lampposts lit the roads. The cold sea wind blows into my hair, the warm salty air brushes against my cheeks, “It sure is quiet tonight, huh?” I pointed out, “It’s almost like the busy streets of this afternoon is just an afterthought.”

“It sure is.” Sen nodded, “But, it’s the small patches of peace and serenity in life that make the busy parts of it worth it.”

“If you say so.” I shrugged, “At least this is relaxing, instead of boring. I think I have enough excitement for today–”

“LOOK OUT!”

And just as I said that, something slams into me and knocks me off my feet and send my tumbling onto the ground. I let out a small hiss over my bruised butt cheeks before looking at whatever has landed on me.

Lying on top of me seems to be a person, a woman if the soft cushions pressing on my semi-visible lumps has me to believe, dressed in a long brown cloak. Its hood has pulled back from the impact to reveal her face, a young girl in her late teens with pink locks tied in a braid that is tied in a bun on the back on her head and turquoise eyes.

“Oh my! I’m so sorry about this!!” She apologized to me.

“It’s no problem.” I tells her with a sheepish chuckle, “I wasn’t exactly looking at where I was going, either–”

“Princess Luna?”

The moment those words left Sen’s mouth, the woman flinched, before turning to face my mentor, and then stating in what can be described in surprised-relief, “Master Meron?”

“Master what?” I asked in confusion, before pointing at the girl, “And who is this? You two know each other?”

“More than that.” Sen noted as he pulls the girl off of me, “Rein, meet Luna Peragon; the granddaughter of Arthurious Peragon and the crown princess of the Britt Kingdom.”

The crown princess!? Her?! What’s a princess, let alone the heiress to the throne herself, doing out in the docks in the middle of the night!? Not to mention… “Why did she call you Meron?”

“Meron is what I called myself during the civil war.” He explains before turning to the princess, “What are you doing out here, princess? It’s not safe for a young girl to be out here so late.”

“That’s because–”

“Cornered now, your highness.”

A nasty and nasally voice calls out, from the shadows emerged a large man in tank top and slacks tucked into a pair of leather boots wielding a cutlass in one hand while a pistol is tuck into his pants. Behind him, a few more thugs-looking men walks out wielding all sorts of nasty weapons from clubs, to bats with nails drilled into it, to good ol’ fashion swords.

“Now be a good girl and come with us.”

…Why do I keep jinxing myself!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! This will be the first long arc of this series! And right on chapter ten too!! And also, Ace has a just slight cameo in the first portion of this chapter but don’t you worry, for he’ll be playing a bigger role in this arc. You just have to wait and see!
> 
> For those of you who aren’t familiar with the lore, the character of Masked Deuce came up in the light novel adaptation of the Ace’s rookie days leading up to his rise as the legendary Fire Fist Ace, and is in fact his actual first mate. I wasn’t able to find a translated version of the novel, but the One Piece Wiki does have a summary of a novel’s chapters so I’m working based on that.
> 
> If there is a translated version that I do not know about, please let me know.
> 
> Now anyways, I like to point out that I’m quite a big fan of Arthurian legends with the Sword in the Stone being one of the first Disney movies I’ve watched when I was a kid. So, expect some similarities and parallels to them.


	11. Twilight Isles, Part Two

This day started out great. We manage to get to our destination safely with no pirates intervening to try and loot us dry. Minus that moment with the Conqueror Haki, the tour with Sen is pretty neat. Not many times I get to learn about a kingdom I didn’t know about in the manga.

Not to mention the magnificent dinner we just had!

But then I just has to jinx myself, and now I’m caught up in what I presume is a kidnapping attempt on the kingdom’s crown princess.

“Well, well. Looks like we have a bunch of witnesses around.” The thug leader noted with a grin, raising his cutlass and pointing it at us, “Sorry, lad. And lass, don’t want to be sexist here.” I growled at that comment, “If you people would please step away from the princess, that would be wonderful. Don’t… well,” He licks the blade of his sword, “My sword would be thirsting for blood.”

Murphy’s Law is… the worst.

I glance behind us, noticing the other thugs has already blocking our other exit route. They have completely box us in with no way out.

“…Luna, explain.” Sen asks rather politely, “Why are you being chased by these rascals?”

“Is this really a good time!?” I asked worriedly.

“Rascals, you say!?” One of the underlings shouted angrily, “I’ll have you know, we are the notorious Red Cap Mountain Bandits!”

“Never heard of you.”

“WHA-!?”

“SHUT IT!” His leader shouted at him, he immediately clams up and took a step back, “It appears you didn’t hear me right the first time, so let me repeat myself. Step away from the princess, or die by my blade–”

“Shush, you!” Sen scolded him before turning back to the princess, “You haven’t given me an answer, Luna.”

“Oh, it’s because–”

“That’s IT! I’ve had it!” The thug leader shouted angrily, “I’m done playing the gentleman here! If you’re not willing to move, you’ll die standing there. Men! Kill those two, but leave the princess ‘relatively’ unharmed.”

The thugs let out a loud battle cry as they all rushes towards us with weapons raised to strike us down.

Luna let out a squeak of fear as she suddenly ducked behind me, which is just plain awkward due to the fact parts of her body, mostly her chest, stuck out from behind my scrawny body. “I’m pretty sure that I’m the last person you would want as a human shield, princess.” I point out to her before getting ready to fight.

“Talk about rude.” Sen mutters as he turns to them.

A second later, a sudden pressure erupted from him that blasts through the armed thugs with a stray wave hitting me and the princess behind me, I feeling my hairs sticking up from the familiar feeling. Time stopped for a moment as the thugs all slowly rolled their eyes into their skulls before collapsing onto the ground with loud thuds, some of them even starting to foam from their mouths.

Damn… Conqueror Haki sure is terrifying… but is pretty useful if not used against you.

“W-What’s this!?” The leader shouted angrily, “Hey, you guys!! Stop joking around and get them!!”

“They won’t be waking up anytime soon, I’m afraid.” Sen tells him as he walks up to him and grabs the man by his shirt’s collar, pulling him to his face. “Now, you’ll going to tell me in great detail why you are chasing the kingdom’s crown princess, or…” He grabs the cutlass swung at him, and break its blade with a flick of a wrist, “You’re going to worry about more than replacing that sword.”

“O-Okay! Okay! I’ll talk!” He cries, “Someone paid us up a hefty sum to kidnap the princess and bring her to them! That’s all!”

“Who!?”

“I don’t know! It was dark when they came, so I didn’t get a good look!” Sen growled and he starts blabbering, “I-It’s the truth! I swear!!”

“…Tch.”

My mentor scoffs as he grabs his head and slams him into the wall hard, the bricks cracking around his skull while the man just slumps over either dead or unconscious, “Well, that was a waste of time and energy.”

“You only punch ONE guy.” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s still a waste.”

“Right…”

“That… was incredible…” Luna stated in shock as she walks up to the bunch of unconscious thugs, “My grandfather has said you are capable of incredible things… but I’ve always assumed they were just exaggerations.”

“He does this and more.” I tell her, “He once decapitated a Sea King with a single swing of his sword.”

“Really…?” She thought for a moment while I heard the words, “If it’s him… maybe…” slip out of her mouth.

“Okay, Luna.” Sen turns to her with his arms crossed, “I believe you owe me an explanation. Why are you being chased? Heck, why are you even in Port Royalise in the first place? You’re supposed to be in the castle.”

The princess flinch at his question, she fidgets on the spot before taking a calming breath, “…Master Meron. I need you help in stopping a coup.”

“…Huh?”

Well, and I thought this day couldn’t get anymore hectic as it can be. Damn you, Murphy’s Law!!

* * *

 

“So… let me see if I got this right.” Silvia said as she points at Sen, “You are strolling around port when all of a sudden, you bumped into the crown princess of the Britt Kingdom.”

“Actually, it was Rein–”

“WHO, by your record, is without her guards. And then, a group of thugs shows up and wanted to kidnap her.”

“Yup.”

“Then, after you’ve dealt with them, said princess wants your help with stopping a coup. Do I got everything correct?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Okay. Then here’s my question.” She then points at the princess sitting in the mess hall with most of us and sipping her drink, “WHY ON EARTH DID YOU BRING HER ABOARD THEN!?”

I knew this wasn’t such a good idea, but who am I to go against Sen?

After the princess’s outrageous request, which came out of left field mind you, Sen decided that us discussing a national crisis out in the open isn’t the best idea, and moved to a more private location. And, his words exactly, Silver Fang is most foreign place on Britt’s soil currently. As such, no one would have considered the thought that the crown princess would hide in there and will ignore it entirely.

Not sure about his logic there, but he is right about one thing. The Silver Fang is considered a foreign ship not affiliated with the Britt Kingdom, so the idea of royalty boarding such a vessel is probably not even thought about.

And, well, Silvia didn’t take that news very well.

“What, you expect me to just leave her in the streets?” He points out, “Besides, from what I tell, those thugs aren’t the only ones after her. The whole port could be paid for this, all I know. The Silver Fang is the only place that I could think of to be safe for her.”

“Flattery won’t do you any good, Sen.” Lee stated firmly, “In case you have forgotten, we are _traders_. The last thing we need is to get involved in the affairs of a foreign kingdom!!”

“But still, to kidnap such a young girl…” Gord points out, “What reason would they have for doing so?”

Our captain glares at Sen, who then turns to Luna, “…Well?” He asked, “Any explanations for why you’re being targeted?”

Luna sips her cup, putting it down on the table gently before explaining, “It’s because I’m the only one that found out about the coup.”

“Wait, only one?” Sam voices out, “That can’t be right. This is COUP we’re talking about here. How can no one know about it?”

“They haven’t started yet.” Sen theorized, “My guess, they are slowly gathering up forces, preparing arms for an assault. All the while, they infiltrate and replace some of the officials in the capital with their own. But Arthurious would have noticed that and took action. Being so ignorant isn’t his way.”

“Grandfather has passed a year ago.”

Luna’s next line must have shocked Sen, as he went completely stiff when he heard that.

“…Arthurious is… dead…?” He said in shock, “I…but the last time I saw him… he was still fit as a fiddle…”

“Old age, Sen.” I pointed out, “No matter how strong someone can be, they can never win against Father Time.”

“If it’s any consolation, grandfather died peacefully in his sleep.” Luna tells him, “He has a smile on his face when he passed.”

“…And he said he isn’t one of them…” My mentor muttered with a tearful smile, before rubbing the tears away and stating, “I guess that’s why a coup is happening now. With Arthurious gone, any opposers to his rule would rise up in his absence.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you found out about it.” Gord pointed out.

“To be honest, I’ve stumbled upon it by coincidence.” She explains to us, “By chance, I overheard the father’s advisor talking with a hooded man about their plans, their plans of assassinating my father and overthrowing the Britt Kingdom, and re-establishing the Latian Kingdom.”

“Old loyalists.” Sen concluded, “Probably descendants of those exiled half-a-century ago.”

“But before I could tell my father, I was suddenly posted to Port Royalise to overlook the construction of our navy forces by orders of the chancellors. I knew this must be a trap by the advisor to get rid of me for learning about their plans and I escape the fort immediately. Soon after that, I ran into you two.” She then walks up to Sen and bowed to him, “Master Meron, please, help me in stomping out this coup before it raises another civil war! With your strength, you could–”

“Okay, hold your horses, your highness.” Silvia tells her with a hand raised, “I don’t know why you are referring to Sen as ‘Master Meron’, but you need to understand one thing. Sen is under _my_ employment, not yours. He’s not one of your soldiers that you can just ask for help.”

“Silvia, maybe we should let Sen handle this one?” Lee tells her, “I mean, it was him who she asks.”

“Hey, it’s the rules, Lee.”

“Even so…”

“She’s right.” Sen stated before holding her shoulder, “Sorry, Luna. As much as I want to help, I’m currently under employment of the Silver Fang, and by extension, the East Traders as well. I can’t just abandon my contract on a whim.”

“I-If it’s money, I can pay you!” She cried, “I have plenty saved up, so–”

“I’m afraid it’s not something money can fix, Luna.” He tells her, she lowering her head in despair, “But…”

He then pulls me to him and patted my shoulder, “If it’s Rein, I’m sure Silvia could let her go.”

“Wait, what!?”

“WHAT!?”

“Sen, what are you–”

“Silvia.” He turns to our captain, “When Rein signed the contract, it is as an addition to my own, correct?”

“Uh… yeah, that’s how Tio wrote it out.” She noted before realising, “Which means that Rein isn’t exactly employed by the East Traders. She’s working under YOU!”

“Exactly, and by that logic, means that how I deploy her is up to me.” He points out, “And I wish to send her to help Princess Luna, here. Is that good enough for you?”

“That’s… pretty solid, actually.” Lee noted, “But are you sure you want _Rein_ to help her out? I mean…”

“Okay, what does _that_ mean?” I growled. I’m pretty strong myself, you know! I may not be a powerhouse like Sen, but I definitely can hold my own!

“Master Meron, who is this girl?” Luna asked. Oh, good for you to finally notice me!

“Luna, this is Rein, my pupil.” He explains to her, “She may not be as strong as your grandfather, but she is still a force not to be trifled with. I can assure you, you’ll be in good hands.”

“And _I_ don’t have a say in this?” I stated angrily, “You can’t just dump me on someone else’s problems like that!!”

“Oh, yes, I can.” He grins, “Or are you going to let this poor girl fight the big baddies all by lonesome? I don’t think you’re THAT cruel.”

“Why, you…”

As such, it is settled that I’ll be the one to help out Princess Luna, and won’t be joining my crew to Goa. That’s probably the only good thing that will ever come out of this.

* * *

 

“Remember, we’ll be back here in a week.” Silvia tells me from the boat as me and Luna are standing by the docks at sunrise.

Now that there’s some sunlight, I can finally make out her outfit.

Aside from the brown hooded ropes around her, underneath is a white lacy blouse with a dark brown corset tied around her waist that seems to push up her already impressive chest. Around her hips is also a bluish skirt with reaches to her knees with a pair of knee-high leather boots.

For a princess, she sure doesn’t dress like one.

Back to the point, after it was settled that I would assist the princess in stopping the coup, I was to pack up my belongings and bring them off the ship by sunrise with Luna.

The princess’s plan is pretty straight forward. According to what she has managed to overheard, in the smaller island of Twilight Isles lies an arms depot that the coup is getting their weapons from, smuggled in from outside the kingdom. Within that depot are possible documents that could point out who the instigators are and act as evidence to arrest the advisor for treason.

With that in mind, her objective is to get to the depot and collect the evidence and get to the current king. Swift and simple.

“Got it, back at the docks in a week.” I stated.

“And be safe!” She added on, “Contract or not, you’re a part of the crew! And I would like to see all my crew alive and well, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah!” I tell her with a wave, “Relax, I’ll be fine. Now hurry along! Wouldn’t want the delivery to be late now!”

“Okay, stay safe, you hear!” She calls out before shouting out, “Raise Anchor! We’re setting sail!”

“Aye, aye!”

The ship slowly sails away from the docks, I watching the figure of the large ship slowly disappearing into the horizon. This will be the first time I’ll be without Sen, or the crew of the Silver Fang. It would be a challenge, but I’ll power through it.

“You ready, Rein?” Luna asked.

I nodded, hefting my bag over my shoulder as I thumbed the hilt of my katana hanging off the leather cord tied around my waist, “More than that.” I noted with a smile.

Sen, as insurance for my survival, passed me a sword he has kept in that four-dimension bag of his, a plain katana that has no wrapping around its wooden handle as well as a bronze tsuba and kashira with a wooden sheathe. It is as plain as it can get, which is a surprised when he told me its name: Nanashi; No-Name.

I’m honestly shocked that he has a named sword with him. Like, aren’t named swords considered top quality swords? To hand that off to an amateur swordsman like me, he sure has guts for it. Even if its name is, ironically enough, means ‘no name’…

But considering that this isn’t the weapon he stated to have taken back in Loguetown, I’m curious and terrified of what kind of sword that will be.

Luna then lead me into town, she putting her hood up for anonymity sake, as she walks through the town with me by her side.

“So, how are we going to get to the other island?”

“Not from this port.” She explains, “There’s another port a few miles from here due southeast. That’s where people heading for the other island will board the ferry at. If we leave now, we’ll make it there by sunset.”

“Someone, stop them!!”

That stopped us in our tracks we turn to the source of the noise, where two very familiar guys are running away from what I assume is a chef if the hat and apron isn’t a fashion choice. I recognise that orange hat anywhere. Guessing he must have dine-and-dash, his usual MO since he was a kid…

Goddamn it, Ace. Why now!? Why can’t you wait till we’re out of the town before you began you brand of mischief!? Damn it, you fire bastard–

Then a thought hit me. Didn’t they have Strider? One of the fastest boats on the East Blue? Sure, the size would be a bit of a squeeze, but…

“I’ll pay for them!!”

A quick exchange and handing way too many money that I should be paying later…

“Thanks for the help, Rein!!” Ace laughed, “The cook nearly got us there!”

“You’re the one that just dash out of the restaurant without paying!” Deuce shouted angrily, “If you didn’t have any cash, why did you even eat there, anyways!?”

“It’s just how I roll!”

“Your friends’ petty squabbles aside…” Luna tells me as the four of us huddle around the alleyway away from the public roads with the son of Roger and his first mate arguing in the background, “What reasons do you have for squandering all of our funds like that!?”

“To be fair, I didn’t expect him to rack up such a bill.” I pointed out with a nervous laugh, “But reassure, there’s a good reason for me to do such a thing…”

“And that reason being…”

“Hey, Ace!” I called out to him, he stopping his argument with Deuce for a moment, “Your boat is still docked at the harbour, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Mind giving us a lift?”

* * *

 

“This is the boat?” Luna asked with a confused tone, the bopping Strider floating next to the docks as Ace and Deuce board it, “It doesn’t look like a proper boat at all!”

“Look, are you getting on or not?” The freckled face pirate asked.

I patted her on the shoulder, “It’ll be fine. Trust me, I’m not a big fan of squeezing on that tiny dingy either, but it is one of the fastest boats you can ever find on this hemisphere. That way, we don’t have go all the way to the other port and waste a whole day. Also, there’s big chance we’ll be ambushed on the road, right?”

She looks at me sceptical, before letting out a sigh and sheepishly getting on Strider. And by getting on, I meant trying circumvent around the two guys and ended up just hugging the mast with all her might. Guess that’s one way to board it.

For me, I simply leap onto the top part of the mast and held on tight, rocking the ship and getting a squeak of fear from the princess. Oops…

“You girls ready?” Ace asked. We nodded in reply and he grins, “Good, now hang on tight!”

His legs burst into flames, getting a cry from the princess, before the boat speeds into the open waters like a jet ski, cutting through the water like nothing. Got to admit, I know this thing is fast, but I didn’t expect it to be _this_ fast!

“What is this!?” Luna screams, “How can a boat go this fast!? And why are your legs on fire!?”

“Devil Fruit.” Deuce explains, “He ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, that turns him into a literal Flame-Human. He can turn any part of his body is flames, whether it is his legs or otherwise.”

“Devil Fruits… so they are real…” She muttered in surprise, “I’ve heard the rumours but… I never thought they really existed.”

“You better believe it.” I tell her as I transformed my arm into my dragon state, “After all, seeing is believing, right?”

“You’ve ate one, too!?”

“Yeah, and kind of regretting doing it.” I grimace as I recall the awful taste, “Urk, even after a month, I can still taste it. Not a fun time, I tell you.”

“True that.” Both Ace and Deuce nodded.

“Wait, you too, Deuce?” I asked to my surprise. Deuce has Devil Fruit powers too?

“Nah, not me.” He tells me, “It’s more of me and Ace shared the fruit and he ended up with the powers.” He then places his hand on his mouth to hold back his bile, “But that didn’t stop it from being the most awful thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

“Okay, can you guys stop reminding me of how awful that stupid fruit tasted!?” Ace groaned.

“Alright then, new topic.” His first mate then turns to me, “So, what’s the deal? I didn’t see your ship back at the docks, so this can’t be due to your captain orders. Also, who is she?”

“Oh, I’m Luna.” The princess introduces herself, “I’m just… um…”

“She’s the crown princess of the kingdom.”

“She’s the WHAT!?”

“REIN!!” She looks at me with a scowl, “That’s not something you should be telling people!! What if they’re…!?”

“They aren’t. I can assure you that.” I tell her, “If there’s one thing I know, is that Ace isn’t someone that can be paid off. If anything, he’ll probably punch the guy for offering.”

“True that.” Deuce nodded.

“Hey!”

“Also, he is a pretty good guy if you treat him right, and with that being said…” I looked at the island mass coming closer to us, “I wanted to ask you guys for another favour.”

“Another one? What is it?”

“Look, we’re be heading into that island over there to infiltrate a weapon depot for evidence of treason. And considering it is just us… _girls_ …” I can feel my brain snapping from me admitting that, “I like to ask if you guys can, well, tag along? We could use some extra firepower, figuratively and literally.”

“Rein, wait. Are you sure that is a good idea?” Luna asked worriedly, “Bringing more people might be useful, but these people are strangers. I don’t feel right asking them for help save a kingdom that’s not theirs.”

“It’s fine.” Ace tells her, “If it’s for Rein, sure, I’ll help. After all, I still owe her for paying for my meal.”

“Agreed.” Deuce nodded, “Besides, this could be good material for my novel.”

“Are you guys really sure?” She asked, “I mean, it’s not even your home…”

“Why not?” The son of Roger stated with a laugh, “It sounds like fun, after all! And we might be the first pirates to help out a kingdom!”

“Wait, you guys are pirates!!”

“Not just any pirates!” Ace added with a smirk, “You’re looking at the future King of the Pirates!!”

“WHAT!!?”

Oh boy, maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ace is back in the game! Slightly shorter than the previous one, but honestly, for this part I have many ideas that could flow on and on and would not stop so I keep changing the script over and over again, until I got this! First, I want the grandfather to be ill and the princess is on a quest to find a medical plant that is rumoured to cure all diseases, then it became poison and antidote, until it became this!
> 
> That aside, what do you guys think of my writing of Ace? Is it good enough, or maybe I swing and a miss with him?
> 
> To be honest, I didn’t get a good grasp of Ace’s character before joining the Whitebeard. I mean, besides his childhood and all that. So I may have accidentally tweak his character behaviour a little to something I feel like what he should be.
> 
> A mature Luffy with a sprinkle of swag and smarts. So, tell me what you think.


	12. Twilight Isles, Part Three

Twilight Isles, as you can recall, is made up of two islands.

The main island is commonly known by the locals as Brittland, where the majority of the Britt Kingdom established themselves be it small villages, distant farmlands, or large towns like Port Royalise. It is where most of the population of the kingdom would be inhabiting and prosper, and where the main capital of the kingdom is located.

The smaller island, named Irenia, is the direct opposite, being widely accepted to be largely uninhabitable with the exception of a small port village. From what I’ve read about it in the goddess’ guidebook, Irenia is smaller of the two islands, and its environment is much harsher as compared to Brittland, which has plenty of flat land that can be used for farming compared to its more hills-filled counterpart.

Its forests are so massive and span across the entire island, with very little space in between which makes deforesting and establishing villages near-impossible, let alone cultivating the land to grow any form of produce. There are lakes that dotted about the island, due to the hills being so close to one another, but just getting to one of them is near impossible due to its terrain being so rough and jagged.

That’s not including makes Irenia’s environment so harsh in the first place, the wildlife. Its animals, probably due to the lack of open space and flat surfaces, are mostly tree dwellers and small poisonous critters, with a few exceptions that lived near the lakes. Species of snakes, scorpions and other creepy insects make home on the forest floor while wild and vicious monkeys make home in the tree tops, along with bears and other huge creatures that preyed on the small creatures, with a notable known species of wild cat making home near the hills’ peaks.

Speaking of large animals, due you know that went encountering a large bear, it is in your best interests to not alert it to your presence? If in the event you do, there’s a high chance it would see you as a threat and chases you down with every intention to kill you!

I wished I have remembered that little titbit before entering the damn forest!

As to why I mention that…

“RUN!!”

“NO SHIT!!”

*RAAWWRRR*

It is because I’m currently being chased by one right now!! Luna, Deuce, Ace and I are running from a goddamn black bear the size of a fucking truck!

“What even triggers it that time!?” Luna screamed in panic, our resident pirate captain snoozing away while being carried on his first-mate’s shoulder, “We did absolutely nothing to warrant that!”

“No idea!!” Deuce shouted, “It always happens randomly!!”

“I’m more surprised that he is able to sleep through all of this!!” I added on.

The bear roars one more time, which sounds the heck of a lot closer than a moment ago, and that prompts us to shut up and focus on running for our lives.

How did all of that happened? Well, let’s jump back to about an hour ago…

* * *

 

“That’s the island?” Ace asked as we approach the land mass in front of us.

In the distance is a lone island filled with forests all over it. Tall hills, not mountains due the height, can be seen poking out of the ground also covered with forests. The forests are so dense that I don’t think I can see into them, making then look more of a jungle than a forest.

It almost looks like Little Garden, only without the volcano, the large white bone mountains, and lack of any truly dangerous prehistorical life. Thank goodness for small mercies…

“Yeah, Irenia.” Luna tells us, “That’s our destination.”

“Looks… rural.” Deuce noted.

“That’s a HUGE understatement.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. The books did mention why, but it would be nice to get some clarification from a local.

“Irenia is filled with animals and plants that are extremely hostile towards deforestation and establishing a habitable location.” She explains, “My father once heralded a huge expedition into the island almost a decade ago, in an effort to try and explore and possibly establish a town there, which didn’t go so well. Almost two-thirds of the team didn’t make it back.” She shudders a little at the memory, “So many missing limbs… He lost his eye and a leg himself…”

“Oh… sorry if I brought up any bad memory…”

“It’s okay, I’m way over it.”

“Hey, your father… is the king, right?” Ace asked, “What is he doing exploring anyway? Aren’t kings supposed to… I don’t know, kingly stuff or something?”

“Oh, father only became the king about nine years ago.” She explains, “He was in-charge of infrastructure back then.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

“Wait, you mentioned a ferry heading to Irenia back in Royalise. And I’ve read that there’s a port village on the island.” I pointed out, “If your dad’s expedition failed, why is there a village there, and a ferry carrying people there?”

“You mean Flut Village? Well, Father’s expedition did fail, but he was successful in managing to establish and maintain a landing point for future expeditions.” She explains, “As for the village… some people managed to settle down there some few years ago and managed to establish it there. After finding out about it, father appointed one of the noble families in the court with the task governing it as well as establishing a port to connect the two islands.”

“So, despite failing, a village did end up getting set up there in the end…” I muttered under my breath.

“Nice history lesson, princess, but what’s the plan here?” Deuce asked the princess, “Do we dock at the port and proceed from there?”

“No. There are soldiers stationed there, and I can’t risk the chance of even one of them reporting my whereabouts to the advisor.” Luna explains, “We’ll alight somewhere close to the forest.”

“Didn’t you just say that this island is a death trap to most people just five minutes ago?” He pointed out.

“Yes, but that’s why it makes a great place to hide smuggled weapons. No one would dare look for it in there.”

“Again, _death trap_?”

“That still leave at least several hundreds of yards to check.” I pointed out, “It would take forever to comb the entire island.”

“We might not have to.” Ace stated, “Luna, you said that the guns are smuggled from outside the kingdom, right?”

“Yeah, what does that…” She wonders before realising, “Which means ships! And ships mean docks! In other words, it would be–”

“Close to the sea, or at least near someplace connected to one.” He explains, “That narrow things down, right?”

“Even so, it still leaves several yards to check, not to mention that we are on a time limit here!” I noted, “Luna, when they say the coup is to be executed?”

“Hm… I think the hooded man says they would be ready in about a week… and that was around four days ago, so…”

“It’s in three days!?”

Which means we have to find the evidence in two days!? Is this girl crazy!? Why didn’t she point that out before!?

“That’s… a bit of a clench…” Deuce points out, “There’s no way we’ll be able to scope out the entire island, find that weapon depo, get the evidence, and head back to the mainland in that time frame.”

“We could at least try!!” She cried out, “My entire country is at stake here!!”

“Then you should have included that before we left!!” I cried, “We would have at least plan things out more! Not winging it like we are doing now!! I mean, do you even know what the depo could LOOK like?”

“Um…”

“Oh, fuck me…”

“Hey, I was in the rush when I bump in you and Meron!!” She screamed, “So, excuse me for not getting enough information on the _hidden_ target!!”

“And you should! There’s no way we’ll be able to find a hidden weapon storage in the wilderness in two fucking days just through IMPROVISING!!”

“Like I said, we should at least–”

“Um, guys?” Deuce spoke up.

“WHAT!?”

“Ace has fallen asleep.”

“Huh?”

I looked at the ‘driver’ seat of the watercraft and the visible signs of the flame person’s snores can be seen, including the giant snot bubble. Oh, shit…

“Wasn’t he driving the boat!?” Luna cried.

“He was, and still is!!” Deuce points out in a panic, the signs of Ace’s fire visible in the ‘cockpit’, “And I think that cliff face is coming closer!!”

“What cliff face-OH CRAP BASKETS!!”

“Crap what-OH SHIT!!”

We all nearly screamed as we speed towards the cliff face that is as tall as Deuce that is steadily approaching by the second! Shit, shit, shit!! What do we do!? What do we do-Oh, yeah. Devil Fruit powers.

I quickly summons out my wings and grab Luna by the stomach, “Deuce, I’m leaving Ace to you!!”

“Wait, what are you-!?”

I quickly leap off the craft and flew into the air, flapping my wings harder to accommodate to the additional weight, which is surprisingly pretty hard to do. The vessel eventually did crash into the cliff, but Deuce managed to grab Ace and throw themselves into the water before they went splat.

Can’t say the same for the Strider, though. The impact actually broke the boat into pieces.

“…There goes our ride home…” I pointed out worriedly.

“Yeah, I can see that!” Luna noted with a grunt, “What kind of idiot falls asleep like that!?”

“The Ace kind, apparently…” I grunted before flying towards the island. Once we are above the cliff, I put her down before landing myself and dismissing my aching wings. Damn, nearly pulled a muscle there.

“…Just to clarify…” The princess points out she looks over the cliff, “Devil Fruit users drown in water, right?”

“Yeah. Why do you think I left Deuce with Ace?” I stated as I rolled my shoulders an attempt to get rid of the phantom ache, “At least one of them can swim.”

Just as I said that, a splash can be heard from the waters, which is followed by, “Couldn’t you save us as well!?” from Deuce.

“Sorry, but the princess’s safety is my first priority.” I tell him as I look down into the waters, where the future Whitebeard commander and his first-mate is bobbing in the water, “Also, just carrying her took a lot out of me, so I highly doubt I’ll be able to carry you two.”

“Whatever. Just throw down a line or something! This guy is a lot heavier in the waters!”

* * *

 

After fetching a rope from my bag and several minutes spent pulling them up, we all took a moment to catch our breath and bearings.

“So… your boat is caput.” I pointed out worriedly as I pack the bundle of rope into my bag.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Ace nervously chuckles, “But went you have to nap, you have to nap, you know?”

“No. No, we don’t.” Luna stated angrily, “Seriously, how can you even sleep while steering the boat!?”

“I have asked that question so many times…” Deuce stated with a sigh, “And still never gotten any answer…”

“And I doubt you ever will.” I added with a groan, “But that aside, there’s still the part that we still have NO idea where to start looking! And without the boat, even if we did find the evidence, we have no way of getting back to the mainland.”

“Can’t you just fly us back?” He asked.

“Highly doubt so.” I explained, “Just carrying the princess took a lot out of me, and that’s just somewhat hovering. I wouldn’t make it past a few feet.”

“Wow, you are weak.” Ace pointed out.

“I’m a head shorter than you.” I responded angrily, “And skinnier, and a lot lighter-”

“You’re a midget, is what you’re telling me.”

“WHO’S A MIDGET!?”

“At any rate!” Deuce interrupted us, “We have no other choice than to search the island on foot. This island is big, so it’ll be best if we start right away.”

“That’s right.” Luna stated firmly, “We’ve still got a mission to take care of. Let’s go find that weapon depo and get the evidence. We’ll think about how to get back to the mainland later.”

“Yeah, sure. Go into the forest death trap.” I sarcastically pointed out, “I’m sure that will be go well.”

“Let’s just go already.”

* * *

 

For the next few minutes, we are just walking through the forest with the princess leading us, threading on the grassy ground with little sunlight penetrating through the roof of leaves above us. Got to say, for what amount to a deadly forest, this place sure feels tranquil. I don’t know what was so scary about this place.

The sun is shining, the air smells great, the wind is blowing, there’s a snake handing from that branch ahead-

Wait, snake!?

“SNAKE!” I shouted as I ran past Luna, drew my sword and slashes at the slithering reptile, severing its head from its body. I let out a sigh as I sheathes my weapon, “That was close.”

“Rein…” Luna look at me with a pale face as she points at me, “There’s a little something on your…”

I blinked at her before looking over my shoulder, eight pair of red eyes looked back belonging to a large hairy spider the size of a human fist perched on my right shoulder.

“KYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

Not going to lie, I screamed like a bitch.

“GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!!”

“Relax, just don’t move.” Ace tells me as he walks up and plucked the arachnid off of me, “Got to say, I’ve never seen a spider this big before.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great. Just keep that away from me!” I stated in fear while hiding behind Deuce.

“What, scared of spiders?” He chuckles, “That’s surprisingly girly of you.”

“They have deadly venom that kills in seconds!!” I shouted, “Not to mention all those eyes, and legs, and fangs, and-”

“I get it, I get it, you hate spiders.” He tosses the critter to the side, the eight-legged terror skitters away as we carry on walking.

“So, you’re okay with snakes, but spiders freak you out?” His first-mate asks me.

“Hey, they are scary, okay.”

“And for a good reason.” Luna tells us, “That spider is called the Red-Eyed Tarantula, and they are extremely venomous. One sting from it can kill you within seconds. No amount of anti-toxins can save you from it.”

“Yikes.”

“Yes, yikes.” She nodded, “So I want everyone to be careful. There’s no telling what kind of dangerous creature we’ll encounter next.”

Just as she said that, she walks right into the butt of a large black bear scourging in the bush. “RAAWWWRRRRR!!” The large beast roared as it rushes towards us, and Ace took that moment to just fall asleep to both my irritation and annoyance.

* * *

 

Which then brings us back to the present with us still getting chased by that very same black bear.

“What do we do!? What do we do!?”

“Can’t you just take it down!?” Luna asked me.

“I don’t think my sword would work!!”

“Don’t you have Devil Fruit powers!?”

“…Oh, right.”

I quickly turn around and change my arms into their draconic form. The moment the large animal came close enough, I pull back and slams my fist right into its nose, sending it crashing through a tree, leaving it slumped on the ground either out cold or dead.

“I keep forgetting about that.” I noted as I change my arms back.

“Yeah, I notice.” Deuce groans as he tosses Ace onto the ground roughly, waking the freckled face pirate with a jolt.

“Huh!? W-What happen!? What did I miss!?”

“A lot.” He tells his captain.

“Okay, you need to get examined by a professional!” I pointed out angrily, “Your narcolepsy might kill us at this rate! Hey, Luna! Do you know any doctors you could recommend for his situation?”

“…” She did not answer, to my confusion.

“…Luna?”

“Um, guys… Come look at this.”

She beckons to us, the princess squatting behind a bush peeking at something. We all look at each other with confusion, before walking and kneeling next to her. She then points forward–

* * *

 

In a castle room, a lone man looks out the window overlooking an entire bustling town under him, a small scowl on his face.

He has long dark blue hair parted down the middle with bangs reaching past his eyebrows, wrinkles under his eyes that signifies age with a blade scar on his left cheek. He is clothed in a blue doublet with bronze rims and buttons and a pair of dark blue pants tucked into a pair of leather boots.

“Tell me, my good man, what was my orders last night?”

Behind him, standing rather skittishly, is another man in a white dress shirt with a red tie and a pair black formal pants along with a pair of leather shoes.

“T-To capture the princess, s-sir…”

“That’s right.” The man turns around, staring down at the man, “And what did we just learn a moment ago?”

“T-That the Red Cap Mountain Bandits fail…?”

“NO!” He shouted as he marches up to the poor man with a venomous glare, “It’s YOU who has failed, my good sir! YOU, who has only one job. ONE! JOB! And you can’t even accomplish that!”

“S-Sir Reginold, please. I-I can explain!!”

“Yes, please, Sir Leopold Stevenson! Please explain how did a bunch of armed bandits is taken down by ONE man!?” The named Reginold shouted angrily, “ONE man who, by their accounts, GLARED them to submission! Because I think it is less about that man being so ridiculously strong, and more like you have hired the most pathetic bunch of lowlifes you can find!”

Leopold whimpered in front of him as he got up to his face, before sighing and walking away.

“We can’t leave any loose ends dangling.” He stated firmly, “We have waited far too long to have something like this ruin it all.”

“S-Sir, with all due respects, what can one lone girl do?” The cowardly man asked him, “Sure, she may have overheard us, but we have already isolated her away from the capital. There’s no way she’ll be able to do anything to hinder our plans.”

“Even so, we can’t take the chance that she could.” He points out, “If she is anything like her grandfather, then there’s a high chance she might pull off something.”

“T-Then, won’t killing her be easier?”

“And that is why I’m the one who does the plans.” He stated with a smirk, “If my years under that king of ours has taught me anything, is that he cares dearly for his family, especially his precious daughter. So dearly, that he’ll do _anything_ to assure their safety.”

“Ah! You’re going to hold her as hostage!”

“Exactly.” He nodded, “If the slim chance that man has the guts and will worthy of that throne, we will have a bargaining chip in our favour, thus dealing with our little leak AND advancing our plans forward!”

“Your genius knows no bound, Sir Reginold!” Leopold cheered, before blinking, “B-But we’ve no idea where she’ll be going. How are we going to catch her?”

“Oh, I know where she’ll be going.” Reginold stated, “She’ll be heading towards Irenia in search our little hidden stash of weapons. And that’s where we’ll snag her.” He then turns to Leopold, “Send word to our men stationed in Flut Village. Tell them to keep a lookout for the girl. If they find her, capture her using any means necessary, but leave her alive.”

“O-Of course, sir!” The cowardly man bowed before adding on, “What about the men we stationed to guard the stash?”

“Don’t bother.” His superior assures him, “That place is so well-hidden, I doubt they’ll come across it any time soon.”

* * *

 

–Right at the cave entrance that has two completely not inconspicuous men in what can only summarised as pirate clothing wielding muskets guarding it.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Well…” I face-palmed, “…So much for a secret location.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there! We are done! Finally! Sorry it took so long! Wow-wee, almost a whole month! Never thought it would take this long!
> 
> Anyways, here we are! Part three of the Twilight Isles Arc! Halfway done! 
> 
> You heard me right! HALFWAY! There’s still plenty of stuff I’m going to cover in this arc, so be prepared.
> 
> You know, it is funny, really. I was planning for the prologue thing to be only at least ten-plus chapters, but it might end up being close to twenty before canon starts! I’m having WAY too much fun writing this!!


	13. Twilight Isles, Part Four

I couldn’t begin to list all the things I want to say right at that moment. But if there’s one thing I wanted to say right now, it would be…

“Is the one commanding the coup an idiot?”

“No, but he definitely isn’t smart either.” Deuce stated, “That is so goddamn obvious for a ‘secret’ base.”

“Guess he thought that being a forest means that no one would ever find them.” Ace noted.

“Well, regardless if he is an idiot or not, we found the place.” Luna stated as we all keep a lookout over the obviously guarded cave entrance, “Now, we just have to get inside and get evidence of that bastard Reginold’s double cross…”

“Wait, your advisor’s name is Reginold?” I asked her.

“Yeah. Didn’t I mention that before?”

“No, you did not.”

“You’ve been calling him ‘the advisor’ every time you refer to him.” Deuce pointed out, his captain nodding in agreement.

“Huh… guess I did…” She muttered, before snapping, “But not the time for that right now! We got to get into that cave and find those documents. The coup is three days from now, which means we have both today and tomorrow to accomplish this. But with our boat being inaccessible right now–”

“Thanks to a certain someone…” I muttered; Ace blew out an innocent-sounding whistle in response.

“–It’ll be in our best efforts to deal with this by the end of today.” She pointed out, “That way, we’ll have the whole of tomorrow to find a way to get back to the mainland.”

“Okay, any plans on how to get in there?” Deuce asked.

“I could beat the crap out of those two dudes down there, and then go in guns blazing.” Ace stated cracking his knuckles.

“Nope, bad idea.” I stated, “We can’t risk alerting anyone inside, especially with their operation date so close. They could simply blow the base up and destroy the evidence with it.”

“Good point…” His first mate noted much to a disappointment of the freckled faced pirate, “That leaves only one option. To sneak in undetected, get those documents, and escape without alerting anyone.”

“That’s lame…” He pouted.

“It’s the logical solution.” I pointed out, “Not everything can be solved by blasting it to bits.”

“Okay, then our next course of action is set.” Luna stated, “But how do we sneak in? From what I can see, there’s only one entrance.”

“There might be another entrance, but searching for it might take too long…” Deuce stated, “We’ll have to go through the main gate.”

“There has to be a changing of the guards soon, or…”

I then notice something in the distance. Resting a few meters away from the cave entrance on the dirt beaten path is a large caravan with a horse next to it with its rider, in a similar attire as the guards, possibly feeding the ride animal something. The caravan itself is covered in a white hooded cloth roof, with several barrels and crates visible being the white cloth flaps.

If I were to guess, that has their supply run from town. Go figure, they got to feed the people in the base somehow. And judging by the amount of stuff they have, there are a lot of people in the base.

And then, it hit me.

“Guys, I got an idea.”

* * *

 

“Afternoon, fellas.” The caravan drives up to the two guards, its rider waving his hand at them, “How’s the shift?”

“Boring, really.” One of the guards stated with a yawn, “I still don’t get why we have to stand guard over a cave. Wouldn’t that make it obvious that there is something inside?”

“Oh, quit complaining. Besides, it’s captain’s orders.” His partner scolds him, “Anyway, how’s the shopping trip?”

“Pretty good.” The rider tells them, “Got quite a haul, along with a few… ‘extra’ supplies. Got to tell you man, it ain’t easy getting it.”

“Come on, it’s not like you didn’t want to get it yourself!”

“Yeah, yeah. So, mind moving aside for me to go through?”

“Just one sec.” One of the guards walks towards the back of the caravan, checking the undercarriage along the way. Using his rifle, he pushes the cloth aside and took a good look at the series of crates and barrels, “Looks clear. Let him through.”

The two guards step aside, letting the caravan ride into the cave.

A few moments of riding through near darkness, the caravan exits out into a large open space. The cave expanded outwards to the size of a small town that has several poorly constructed wooden houses of various sizes and disrepair along a couple watch towers of similar states, with a good portion of it opened to the skies and leading into the ocean.

The small ‘port’ has several small ships flying the black jolly roger, a skull inside a large cog, with one of them with men bringing aboard several large crates of various sizes, with a few of them having rifles barrels and handles sticking out of it.

The supply caravan rides and park itself near a large shack that seems to have an open-air kitchen. “The supplies are here!”

A shirtless burly man with a pot belly wearing a white apron walks out towards the caravan with a few other men in similar attire following behind. “About time!” The chef-looking pirate shouted rather impatiently, “We were wondering if you got lost on the way back!”

“Sorry, I had to stop to feed ole Trippy here.” The rider stated stroking the horse’s mane, “You know how cranky he gets without his meal.”

“Believe me, I know.” The chef huffed, “Alright, boys! Get to work! We have a lunch rush coming soon, so the faster you finish this, the quicker we can get to cooking!”

The men all took to a rush, carrying out barrels after barrels of food items and rolling them into the kitchen with several of them rolling into the wooden storage shed behind the shack. As the last barrel is rolled into the shed, the last man pats his hands and leave the room, closing the door behind him.

Little did he realised, that some of the barrels are a little heavier than usual.

* * *

 

I let go of the breath I didn’t know I was holding when I heard the door shut. Good, we’re in.

I pushed up against the barrel’s lid above and lift it off of me, crawling out of the barrel of potatoes, “Is everyone here?” I called out as quietly as I am allowed to, while feeling and removing a potato that has fallen into my pocket before pulling out Nanashi from inside the barrel.

“I’m here.” Ace stated as he pushes himself out of a crate, pouring out a few beetroots that got in his hat before taking a bite of one.

“Same.” Deuce announced as he squeezes himself out of another barrel, spitting out a few beans that got into his mouth, “Didn’t think I could fit in there…”

“You’re telling me.” Luna stated as she got out of a crate, before fidgeting a little and pulls out a banana from between her cleavage, “I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.”

“I can think of several…” The masked pirate muttered to himself.

“I’m more surprised that no one found us out.” I stated, pulling out my bag from another barrel.

Allow me explain!

We need to get into the secret base without anyone noticing, and in order to do so, I came up with an idea to do as such.

There was a caravan that’s a good distance away, driven by a person wearing a similar outfit as the two guards. As such, I made the assumption, which I was right on point by the way, that the caravan belongs to the little rebellion group and we could use it to sneak in unnoticed.

Thankfully, the rider seems to be very engrossed in feeding and pampering his horse to notice us getting on board and hiding in our respective barrels and crates. Had to dump out at least half of their contents to get in, though…

“Regardless, we made it inside.” The princess noted as she walks up to the door, “Now we just have to-Huh?” She tries to open the door, but found it not budging at all. She then pushes with all her might but to no avail, “Um…”

“They must have locked it up.” Deuce helpfully summarizes for us.

“Why would they need to lock up the food storage hut!?”

“Well, most likely to prevent food theft.” Ace noted as he chomps the last bite of beetroot.

“That’s… surprisingly true…” She nodded, “I think the kitchen back at the castle did a similar thing with the fridge too.”

“Good thing we’re not in the fridge.” I pointed out with a shrug, “Thankful for small mercies…”

“Despite the reason, it doesn’t change the fact we’re trapped here with no visible way out.” Deuce stated, “Unless you accounted for the small openings up there.” He pointed to the small gaps on the walls above us, “But that’s too high for any of us to reach.”

“Yeah.” Ace nodded, “I don’t see a ladder in here anywhere, and I don’t think stacking all the boxes here would be enough.”

“Well…” Luna looked over to me, “We do have someone here who could reach it.”

I blinked in confusion before realising with a face-palm “…Oh right, I have wings…” Unfurling my wings, I flew up to the small gaps on the walls, but… “Sorry, no good. These things aren’t big enough for any of us to go through.”

“Have you try sucking in your stomach?” Ace asked.

“I’m not that small, jackass.”

“You could at least try!”

“These things are only the size of my fists!! I couldn’t even put my head through!”

“Can you at least see what’s outside?” Deuce asked.

“Ah, wait a moment.”

I peeked through the gaps, looking about the place the best I can. In our small bumpy journey into the base, I did hear the sounds of waves. This means that we might be near the ocean in some way, and that means that Ace’s idea on how they smuggled in their weapons is on point.

And I was right. From the gaps, I could make out a couple of big ships docked in what looks like a rough stony harbour of a small lake that leads out into the open sea if the blue sky in a small opening in the distance is any indication. This place must be at least close to sea level, and the lake is deep enough to house those two large frigate-sized ships.

And judging by the jolly rogers tied to the masts of one of the ships, they are pirate ships.

“Well, this is definitely their base.” I tell them, “Also, they seem to be either using pirates to smuggle their weapons, or are pirates themselves. I don’t recognise their flags though.”

“I knew it.” Luna muttered, “This is their weapon supply depo!”

“Good for you, I guess.” Ace noted as I heard him bite into something else. Is he eating!?

“Do you see anything else?” She asked me, “Perhaps their command post?”

“…No, not from here. Let me try the other side.” I flew over the other end and took another look, “Mm… there are several buildings about, but not too noteworthy. Oh, but I do see a large hut. And…” I squinted my eyes in an attempt to make out the people in the distance, “There are a lot of people walking in and out, a few of them are in different clothing than the ones outside.”

“Different how?” Deuce asked.

“Well… they look more… expensive, I think? I mean, they are wearing large coats. One of them even has this crazy hat that looks like a pirate hat with a rooster crown in the shape of… a cog for some reason.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Is that a thing with pirate captains?”

“That must be the captain, or at least one of the people in-charge of this operation…” She stated, “That must be where their command post be. The documents of the coup must be in there!”

“That’s great and all, but that means nothing if we’re still trapped in here.” The masked man pointed out.

“I could break the door down!” Ace stated while cracking his knuckles.

“And give away our position!?” I cried out in shock, “That’s a terrible idea!”

“Well, do you have a better idea?”

“Um…”

“Then it’s settled!”

“No, it’s not!!” Luna cried as she walks right in front of him before he could get to the door, “Just brute forcing through thing isn’t going to fly here. We need to think things through first!”

“What’s there to think!?” He asked, “We run out, beat their asses, grab whatever we need, and get out! Easy-peasy!”

“We have no idea how many of them are out there.” Deuce pointed out to him, “We could get overrun within moments, not to mention they are all armed to the teeth. You may be invulnerable to bullets and blades, but the rest of us aren’t. We wouldn’t stand a chance in a full-on assault.”

“He’s right.” I stated as I landed back down, “We don’t know anything about our enemies at all. Just rushing out there is reckless and suicidal.”

“…Fine. But what are we going to do then?”

“First, we need a way to get out of here without arousing their suspicions-”

*CLICK*

The sound of the lock clicking caught me off guard before the door of the shed is pulled open.

“Trevor, is that you!? How many times do I have… to…” We all froze as a shirtless burly man in a white apron look at us with eyes wide, obviously not expecting our presence here. “Um… you’re not Trevor.”

“No. No, we’re not.” Deuce noted.

“Huh, I see…”

When he took a deep breath, Ace quickly got to him in a chokehold before he could even breathe out a word and drags him in the shed and closing the door behind him. After a quick scuffle here and there, with a little creativity by Luna, we manage to bound the pirate with a mix of some of my rope and her mantle as well as a whole lot of bananas being stuffed into his mouth in a form of a gag.

“His mouth sure can pack a lot of bananas.” I stated in surprise.

“But we made quite a ruckus doing that…” Deuce noted, as the sounds of footsteps echoed behind the door, “This is bad…” He then tilts his head for a moment before snapping his fingers, “We could use this to our advantage.”

“Huh?”

“Follow my lead.”

* * *

 

The pirates on kitchen duty all crowd around the food shed, some wielding flintlock pistols or rifles while a few wielded stolen navy cutlasses, and one is…

“Why are you using a frying pan?” One of them asked the guy.

“The armourer got mad after I broke my fifth cutlass this week.” He explains.

“Ah yeah, that make sense.”

“Hush!” The one in front of the shed’s door tells them, “Stop talking! They could hear us!”

“Relax, there’s only one entrance.” One of them tells him, “They have no place to run.”

“Just, be vigilant, will you?” He snaps back as he raises his pistol, “On three. One, two–”

He kicks down the door, running in with pistol aimed to kill with his comrades fanning into the store with weapons ready. All they found was their head chef, bounded and gagged, squirming about in his tight binds while his screams are muffled by the gag of ripe bananas. None of his assailants are to be seen.

“Olie!” One of them ran up to him and proceeds to cut him free, “Are you okay?”

“You idiots!” He screamed at him, “Get out, quick! It’s a trap!!”

“Huh?”

His warning came far too late, as the door soon shuts behind them, along with the click of the lock, locking them inside the shed.

* * *

When I finish locking up the wooden door with a large iron padlock with the key we pilfered from that chef-looking pirate, the captive pirates already started banging on them hard. Thankfully, the banging isn’t that loud to attract any attention but if they got close, that’s a different story.

“Good thinking.” Ace praised his first mate with a D-worthy grin, “Killing two birds with one stone.”

“What can I say? I’m a great planner!” He replied with a thumbs-up.

It’s a good thing the shed has little in terms of lighting, making hiding and going around those pirates a cinch! And with their attention solely on their bounded friend, it made it even easier to sneak past them and lock them up in the shed. We got out, and manages to keep our anonymity in the base.

“But people would start getting suspicious if they don’t show up…” Luna grimaced at that fact, “We need to move fast. Rein, can you remember where that building is?”

“Yeah.” I looked around before finding and pointing that building out, “Right there. It’s quite far, but we might be able sneak inside without any trouble.”

“Okay, you’ll take the lead.”

And such, we took to sneaking through the base as quietly and sneakily as we can. Hiding behind buildings whenever someone came too close, ducking between covers, we manage to get through the base unseen by any of the pirates as we made our way towards the command centre of this base.

When we reach the large wooden hut of a house, we hid under the window that is facing away from the port and is obscured enough to avoid anyone noticing us.

Luna took a peek into the room, before nodding with affirmation, “Yup, this is the command post.” She tells us, “And I noticed a few papers on the table there. If there’s any inflaming evidence against Reginold, I bet my money it’s in there somewhere.”

“Great!” Ace nodded, “Let’s go get them, then!”

“Unfortunately, it’s filled with a lot of people. We’ll be spotted if we just barged in.” She added, before blinking a little, “Huh, it’s really in a shape of a cog. Is that a thing pirate captains do? Wear funny looking accessories for some unknown reason?”

I took a look at Ace, before turning to her and shrugging my shoulders, “Maybe.”

“Wait, what does THAT mean?” The pirate captain huffed.

“Something we can all discuss later.” Deuce tells him with a pat on his shoulder, “For now, we need a way in. Let’s look around for an empty room to enter.”

We made sure to stay under the window as we, as softly and quietly as possible, make our way around the hut to look into another window. This time, the window is a lot higher so I was the one to check it out, via awkwardly flapping my wings to slowly ascend upwards before taking a peek inside.

This room seems to function as their storeroom, if the rows of shelves along the walls are any clearer indicators. Luckily, no one seems to be inside the room at the moment, and the window while small, isn’t too small for someone of Luna’s stature to go through. Unfortunately, that can’t be said about our two pirate companions.

When I pass down this information, Ace and Deuce understood and tell us enter through there, while they find another way in.

“Try not to get spotted, okay?” The masked man reminds us as Luna stepped on my shoulders to get through the window. I doubt I’ll be able to carry her up to the window silently if that time with the Strider demonstrated my weakness in the strength department, which led to me being a human stepladder for her sake.

Thankfully, the skirt is long enough to avoid the infamous panty-shot in such situations. We do get a nice view of her shapely rear though… never going to get that image out of my head now…

 At any case, we managed to get into the storeroom without making a sound. The storeroom is pretty dark, but bright enough for us to make out what was on the shelves.

Filed papers filled the wooden shelves with a few books and maps in them, some of them are stacked rather haphazardly between each other. I pull out a stack of them, finding several sea charts that were labelled with several map-like lingo of sorts. No idea what they meant, though.

“Any idea what these are?” I asked the princess as I show her the charts.

“Sea charts, obviously.” She stated while she flips through them, before pausing for a moment, “…Of the capital city. They must have spent years drawing these much. How long has they been planning?”

“Any idea what’s on these?”

“I’m not a cartographer, I’m afraid. I only know the location because it looks like the map around the capital.”

Well, that is useless. For all we know, these might be the point of attack for the coup…

“But…”

That got my attention as Luna referred to one of the charts in her hands, “One of these seems to outlined an abandoned tunnel leading into the capital.”

“A tunnel?”

“During the last years of the Hundred Year War, the rebellion army have dug a tunnel through the mountains right into the capital for a surprise attack.” She explained, “But after the war, my grandfather has the tunnel collapsed and sealed off to prevent another similar attack pattern to happen to us as well. But such information is only known to the royal family with a few exceptions! No one should know about this!”

“My guess, that advisor of yours found out about it and decided to use that tunnel in a similar tactic.” I theorized.

“This is bad…” She starts to shake and breath in small gasps. “The tunnel’s entrance, or exit in this case, leads in the castle itself. If they use this to attack…No one could… they could easily…”

“We’ll stop them.” I place a hand on her shaking shoulder, “We will not let this coup to pass.”

“…Right.” Her shaking stopped as she pockets the chart into her skirt pocket, “Doesn’t look like any of these would be any use against Reginold. We’ll have to look elsewhere.”

With that in mind, we slowly went to the door and slowly and silently pushes it open. From the small opening we pushed out, there lies several pirate-looking people standing and discussing around a large wooden table. On the large table itself is a map spread across it with mugs and plates placed on top of it, as well as a few stacks of documents among other miscellaneous items.

What stand out the most on it is the Den-Den Mushi sitting right there snoozing away. A large whitish snail connected to what looks like printer of some kind with the usual transceiver I’ve seen so many times before.

I was wondering how they got information down here. That Reginold guy must have been using that Den-Den Mushi to send information he gathered from the capital to this place. That printer must act like a fax machine of sorts to send all those maps over.

If there’s anything discriminating towards that guy, it would be there. But before we can search for it, there’s a small issue we have to deal with first.

“There’s nowhere we can hide.” Luna pointed out.

“Yeah, we’ll get spotted once we enter that room.”

Not to mention that the fact that one of them looks like the pirate captain of the group. A rather tall man with a dark brown goatee, wearing a grey overcoat with a green shirt underneath and a pair of reddish-brown loafers with dark leather boots that has bronze buckles, on his head is the same hat I noticed in the distance, a black tricorne with a cog-shaped accessory that made it look like a rooster’s crown with the cog-themed jolly roger imprinted on it in white.

And all over him, in holsters and leather belts, are several flintlock pistols of various sizes with a couple of blunderbusses in the mix.

I may be bulletproof but I know Luna isn’t, and our size difference is too wide for me to act as her shield. She’ll be swiss-cheese once she got spotted!

“What do we do? Wait for them to leave?”

“Who knows how long that would take.” The princess tells me, “And we are on a time limit. Longer we wait, the more likely for their coup to succeed.”

“So… what then?”

“…” As I thought, she has no idea what to do either.

As I observe the room a bit more, one of the people talking to the pirate captain caught my eye. A young woman in at least her early twenties, if her hourglass figure mean anything, with long dark brown hair in braid that acts like a headband for some reason, wearing blue button shirt under a leather vest that has a golden insignia on the back in a shape of a three-leaf clover inside a shield with a pair of dark purple pants and high leather boots.

On her waist is a longsword in a leather sheathe with a bronze hilt shaped like a clover and a handle tied in black rope with a pommel the shape of a cross fashioned in steel.

This girl is different from the pirates we’ve seen in the base so far. In fact, she’s not the only one. I spot a couple of men standing next to her in similar outfits, just without the vest and has more plain sabres instead of the longsword. If I remember right, the Latian Kingdom’s insignia is that of a clover. These guys must be the actual coup force, and she must be the actual commander and leader of this little operation.

One of the pirates walked up to them with a small salute, “The first supply ship is ready for deployment, captain!”

“Excellent!” The pirate captain grins, “Tell the men to disembark on my arrival!”

“Aye-aye, captain!”

When the pirate walks off, the captain let out a small chuckle, “Looks like things are moving along smoothly, my good lady! Your little coup is going to be a great success!”

“Don’t count our chickens before they hatch, Captain Tok.” The woman tells him, “It wouldn’t be a success until we take back the capital from those damn Britts.”

“Tok…” Luna mutters out loud, “As in Gear Head Tok?”

“Know him?”

“I know OF him.” She replied to my question, “Gear Head Tok is the nefarious pirate that has been wreaking havoc in our country’s waters for the past couple of years, attacking our trade ships and being a damn nuisance. He is the reason my father is having most of our resources moved to developing our naval defences.”

“And he is working with the coup.” I pointed out, “He must be their supplier for smuggled weaponry.”

“Talk about a party-pooper.” He shakes his head at her response, “You got lighten up a little. All work and no play would make little miss Desiree a dull girl.”

So, her name is Desiree…

She turns to him and gave a fierce glare with those sharp violet eyes of hers. He let out a small nervous chuckle before regaining his composure, “Besides, we have been planning this for years. Not to mention that our men has replaced more than half of the castle’s guards now. They don’t stand a chance at all.”

“There’s still the issue with our little loose end that Reginold has informed us about.”

“Psh, the wee-little princess?” He chuckles, “There’s nothing to worry about! She’ll never find this base! It’s literally in the middle of a rural island miles away from any forms of civilisation! It would take a miracle for her to find it!”

At that point, a random pirate burst into the room in a hurry. “We have intruders in the base, captain!!”

“Intruders!?”

“You were saying?” Desiree mocked him with a raised eyebrow.

The pirate captain could only let out a growl at that response before turning to his underling, “How!?”

“We don’t know! We just found Chef Olie locked in the food storehouse with all of the kitchen staff!”

“The supply runs.” His partner-in-crime concluded for him, “They must have snuck in through the caravan.”

“Damn it!” He shouted before turning to the other pirates in the room, “Send out an alert! Search the entire base for these intruders! And if one of them is Princess Luna, do not kill. Capture her and bring her to me!”

“Roger, captain!”

Just as the pirates prepare to leave, an explosion is heard coming from outside, “What was that!?” Tok cried out.

“Captain!!” Another pirate bursts into the room, “We have a massive problem!!”

“What is it!?”

“We found one of the intruders!” He tells him as another explosion is heard, “And he is setting fire to everything!”

“WHAT!?” He and the other pirates ran out of the room, followed by Desiree and her soldiers.

Setting fire to everything…? Only one person came to mind.

“What is Ace up to now!?” I muttered in exasperation, “What’s the point of being sneaky if you burn down everything!?”

“But now the room is completely empty.” Luna pointed out, “This is our chance to get the evidence!”

With that being said, we quickly sneak out of the storeroom and into the room. We then proceed to look through all the papers and files we can find. What we found are papers detailing information on the Britt Kingdom’s defences, patrol patterns, profiles of people that we assumed are either bribed or replaced with their own men, and so much more.

Then, I found something that we can use.

“Luna, look at this!”

The princess quickly ran to me and took the papers I offered to her. It is a call log that details our buddy Reginold telling Desiree and Tok about the secret tunnel and its destination. With it are a few others that spoke in great detail on people that he manages to replace and bribe, along with the schedules of the trade ships coming in and out of Port Royalise. There’s even one for the Silver Fang, even though we’re just stopping for resupply.

“This is it!” Luna nodded happily, “Reginold wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of this one!”

“Let’s grab these can get out of here!”

I stuff all those papers into my bag before we quickly made our way towards the exit. With the way the pirate has been describing, Ace must have gone town against the pirates with all he got and drawn all their forces to him. That means that no one should be around the command centre, allowing us to leave without catching anyone’s attention–

*CLICK*

I stare in shock as several rifle and pistols meet us at the exit. At least several dozens of pirates surrounded us with firearms drawn and aimed at us, with the two Latian soldiers having their sabres drawn behind them. Even the pirate captain has two of his pistols aimed at us, a toothy grin visible on his face.

“Well, well.” Desiree walks up to us with her sword drawn and raised towards us, “Thought you can sneak past us, did you?”

“…Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup! Cliffhanger right here! Can’t have things go on that smoothly, can it? It would be against the One Piece formula, and against Murphy’s Law.
> 
> Man, this arc is a blast to write! Didn’t think I would write this long! But we’re now at the midway point, yup, MIDWAY. This is a long arc for me, and I’m going to make it as epic as any One Piece arc deserve!
> 
> So yes, two more OCs added into my plate of one-off OCs! Gear Head Tok and Desiree. Oh, I have many plans for those two, especially Desiree.
> 
> On a side note, I have posted a new story on the website as well as SpaceBattles and Sufficient Velocity where I’ll be posting a few ‘Pilots’ so to speak of a few stories I’m thinking of writing. It’s a work in process and would not reflect on the final work but the core idea would still be there.
> 
> The first one I have posted is one on the The Rising of the Shield Hero, or Tate no Yuusha no Narigari for the weebs out there. I have quite a fun time writing it, so tell me what you think! If a lot of people like it, I might turn it into a story proper.
> 
> The next one would probably about Neptunia but I have come around to writing it yet.


	14. Twilight Isle, Part Five

“Well, this quite a predicament we are in.”

“You _would_ say that. Seriously, how did things go downhill so fast like this…”

“Zzz…”

*WHACK*

“OW! What was that for!?”

“For this! For ALL of this!! Who do you think is responsible for this!?”

“You can’t pin this on me–Zzz…”

*WHACK*

“OW! Damn it, stop doing that!!”

“Stop falling asleep already!!”

As you can tell from the dialogue above, we are in quite a debacle. As for we, I meant me, the son of the Pirate King and future commander of the whitebeard pirates, along with his first mate.

After we got caught by the pirates and rebellion group, including our two pirate friends, we are tossed into their ship’s brig bounded in ropes with what I can assume is sea-stone cuffs on our only Logia user. They even took our weapons! Sen is going to kill me if I lose Nanashi! Luna, however, is separated from the rest of us and seems to be placed in a different location, escorted by our two head honchos personally.

Which leads to our little dialogue exchange in our cell and my righteous anger towards the freckled pirate captain.

On the plus side, thanks to the sea-stone, I can know hit Ace without risking him burning my feet on contact.

“What were you thinking!?” I screamed at him as I slams my foot into his head, “Burning down the base just give yourself away!! Couldn’t you think of something else!?”

“To be fair, we kind of panicked.” Deuce stated, “And then one thing leads into another…”

“Seriously, think before you act!” I shouted at the pirate captain, “And how did you even get caught! You’re made of fire!!”

“I got captured and they threatened to blow my head off if Ace doesn’t surrender.” His first mate helpfully interjected.

“Damn it…” Ace groaned sluggishly with my foot placed firmly on his head, “Why can’t I turn into fire…? and my body feels so heavy…”

“Because you have special handcuffs on.” I tell him, removing my foot and making sure not to touch the obviously sea-stone handcuffs, “Those cuffs are made of sea-stone, a material that emits the same energy as the ocean would. It’s the bane to all Devil Fruit users.”

“Stone that feels like the sea?” The masked pirate questions in confusion, “That doesn’t seem possible at all.”

“Trust me, I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of it EXISTING.”

“Wait, how come you’re not wearing one?” Ace asked me, “You’re a Devil Fruit user too.”

“It must that they didn’t see her change forms, or that they have only one pair available to them.” Deuce explained, “We could use this to our advantage.”

“Problem is how we can use that.” I pointed out, “We have no idea where Luna is behind held. For all we know, she could be on the other ship. Not to mention the fact if we just bust out right now, we’re just going to get rounded up and brought back here again.”

“What do we do, then?”

“First, we need information, intel about this ship. The size of it, the number of troops on it, whether or not the ship is still docked, those kinds of things. After that, we need to find out where Luna is being held.”

“How do you suggest we do that?”

“I’m… still working on that part…”

Thankfully, these people seem to believe that we can’t possibly escape our cell, as such left no guards here to watch us. If there are guards here, our plans would have been leaked and who knows what their counter strategy would be. Although, this does make getting information pretty difficult.

“This is proving to be way more difficult that I envisioned…” I mused.

* * *

 

Luna jerks around in her bindings, her hands bound together by rope. ‘Damn it! These knots are tight!’

After she was separated from her companions, she got dragged into a room that she thinks is that damn pirate captain’s quarters. With the bed and side table, along with bookshelves that houses a few books, it doesn’t seem like the usual crew quarters of a sailing vessel.

As for why she is brought here instead of being tossed into the brig with the rest of her companions, she can think of several reasons.

And none of them are pleasant at all.

She stops her struggles when she heard the door to the room opened, as the armed woman from before walked in. Her violet eyes burn holes into her as she slowly makes her way towards the bounded princess.

“So, you’re the Britt Princess?” Desiree stated, “The one Reginold warn us about?”

“…”

“…The silent treatment, eh?” She paces about in front of her, staring daggers into her, “Well, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t like to talk to my kidnappers, either.”

“…”

“Although, I have to wonder: How did you find our base? We’re on the most remote part of the island surrounded by dense forest filled with dangerous animals, and we’re in a cave no less. Yet, here you are. Of course, getting to see Tok get all flustered and panicking is a treat for the eyes.”

“…”

She then leans up to her face till their noses are almost touching. “Is it the supply group? Did you follow them to us? Or perhaps, you managed to eavesdrop on our men in town?”

“…”

Seeing that she is getting no reaction from her, Desiree took a step back. “…No matter. The ‘how’ doesn’t make a difference. You’re here now, trapped, and with no way out. No one is saving you this time. Soon enough, your kingdom will fall, and Latian would take its rightful place as–”

“Why?”

“Hm?” She turns to the princess who just uttered that single word, “I thought you weren’t talking?”

“Why are you doing this?” Luna asked with a scowl on her face, “The war ended several decades ago! There’s no reason for you to attack us!!”

“…No…reason…?” Desiree stomps up to her before lifting the princess by her shirt as she growls at her, “I have plenty of reasons for doing so!! You Britts stole away the land that my people, my family has been living on for generations! Not only that, our people are hunted and slaughtered by your accursed army for years! All under the orders of that damn king of yours!!”

“No! That’s not true!!” She argued, “Grandfather would have never given that order! He only executed those that would restart the war!! Everyone else, he only has them banished! He would never agree to mindless slaughter!!”

“Is that so!?” The armed woman shouted back before shoving her onto the wooden ground, “Then explain why ships donning your kingdom’s flags destroyed my town!”

“Eh?”

* * *

 

I look out of our cell’s window; the sky’s turning orange and is slowly getting dark, signifying the end of the day. “That’s one day gone… we only have two days left, now…”

“And we are still no way closer to getting out of here.” Deuce sighed.

But the ship isn’t moving, from what I can tell and hear, so we might still be docked. Not to mention that I can still make out parts of the cave, meaning that we haven’t left the base yet.

*GROWL*

I glare at our freckled pirate captain who let out a moan in response to his stomach’s complaints, “I’m starving…”

“Is food all you think about!?”

“I’m hungry too…” His first mate stated tiredly, “But I highly doubt that they would serve prisoners food.”

“And if they do, it might be either rotten or poisoned.” I pointed out, before letting out a sigh, “Damn it, is there no way to find out what’s going on out there!?”

I then heard footsteps in the distance, I clamming up as I waited with baited breath. Deuce does the same, but his captain just let out another groan.

A few moments later, the cell’s door swings open and a young man walks in. He is wearing the same outfit as Desiree, even has the same coloured eyes and hair as hers with the exception being that he has more of a wolf war tail going on compared to her braid hairband thing.

His weapon is the same as well, with some little changes like it is a short sword instead of a longsword and its cross guard resembles the one of a roman gladius with a four-leaf clover design.

I wonder if he is related to her?

“Hey.” He greeted, a small bundle of cloth in his arms, “Thought you might be hungry, so I got some bread from the mess for you.” He then tosses the bundle and its lands in front of us, unravelling itself to show its contents of brown bread.

“Um…” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

 He then realised, “Ah, right. Handcuffs.”

That is later followed by Ace crawling with his shoulders and then burying his face into the baked goods, loud chewing is heard later.

“That’s… something…”

If I can move my hands, I would face-palm.

“You’re pretty nice for a pirate.” Deuce noted, “Or are you part of the rebel army?”

“Pirate, no.” He stated as he leans against the wall in front of us with his arms crossed, “Rebel? Eh, a little on the nose there.”

“You’re attempting a coup d’état.” I pointed out, “I think that means you are a rebel, so to speak.”

“True, true.” He nodded, “Although, it’s less of a coup then a revenge plot.”

“Revenge? What are you talking about?”

“Ah, right. You probably don’t know.” He then kneels in front of us, “My sister… Oh, you might know her. She’s the leader of our little ‘rebellion’, the one that caught you people and tossed you in here.”

“That girl’s your sister?” Deuce blinked in surprise.

Ah, so he’s Desiree’s brother. “That might explain the whole hair, eyes, and clothes thing.” I noted.

“Yeah, yeah, I know; we look nothing alike.” He chuckles, “Anyway, my sister started this whole thing just to get back at the Britts for what they did to our town.”

“Your town? What happened?”

* * *

 

Desiree let out a huff as she starts to explain, “Ten years ago, when I was just a little girl, my entire town got bombarded by cannon fire from several ships, all of them wearing the colours of your kingdom!!”

“W-What…?” The princess couldn’t believe what she just heard, “B-But…”

“We weren’t fighters, or soldiers either! Heck, we weren’t even near the Twilight Isles!! We were just a small port town, far from your kingdom’s territory. And yet…” Desiree’s hands clenched into a fist, “…A lot of people died that night. INNOCENT people. None of them would bring harm to your kingdom, yet you still blew them all up!! I found my own parents buried under our house!!”

“I-I…”

“You ask why I’m doing this?” She walks up to the princess with poisonous glare, “I’ll tell you why. It’s because you Britts are nothing more than thieves and murderers!! Your people has stolen Twilight Isles from us, and now I’m going to steal it back.”

“Even if I’m going to burn it all down to do so.”

As the leader of the rebellion group left the room, Luna is left speechless and filled with questions of her own family, her heroic grandfather actual deeds and what that meant for the position of her kingdom.

‘Did grandfather… lied to everyone?’

* * *

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Ships flying the flags of the Britt Kingdom just bombarded and annihilated a port town just because they are descendants of the late Latian Kingdom. That’s not something I was expecting to hear at all. To think that their reason is something this intense…

But still…

“After that…” He carries on, “Reginold shows up in our town. He is the one that told us about the whole being chased by the Britts, and that they would nothing to completely destroy anything that has anything to do with the old Latian Kingdom, lineage or otherwise. He then gave us an idea, to take the fight to them, to take back the Latian Kingdom.”

“By infiltrating the Britt Kingdom, and then slowly switching out people from within with your own men.” Deuce concluded, “So when the time comes, you already have an army inside.”

“The whole thing was Reginold’s idea.” The man explains, “He planned to earn himself a spot within the kingdom’s inner circle, which he uses relay important information to us to prepare for our attack. After that, we just bid our time.”

“How long have you guys been waiting?” I asked, “And why attack now?”

“I believe it has been around… five years, or so?” He replies after thinking for a moment, “As for why we move now… I think you know why.”

“Arthurious Peragon’s passing…”

“Yup.” He nodded, “Reginold is afraid of the old king; he didn’t even attempt to assassinate him at all. Once he died, Reginold decided to start the countdown.”

“Is he really that dangerous?” Deuce asked, “The founding king, I mean.”

“Can’t say for sure, I’ve never met the guy myself.” The man stated with a shrug of his shoulder, “Well, it doesn’t truly matter at this point. Once tomorrow comes, we would strike regardless.”

“Tomorrow!?” I screamed in shock, “You guys are attacking tomorrow!?” That can’t be right!! We should still have at least two days till the attack!!

“Pretty much.” He nodded, just as the ship starts to shake and swerve a little, “And that’s the sails unfurling. We should be on our way now.”

“Why are you attacking now!?” Deuce asked, “You have planned to attack two days from now!! Why the sudden change!?”

“Orders from Reginold.” He explains, “The princess is the last part of our plan. With her as our captive, we can easily take over the capital with no bloodshed.”

“You’re going to use her as a hostage!” I concluded.

“Pretty much.” He nodded with a sigh, “Not the most moral of options, but if it means lesser blood on our hands, then I say go for it.”

“…You’re weird.”

“Huh?”

Our pirate captain slowly sat back up, crumbs still around his face, “You’re weird. You came down here to give us food, which was delicious, and then proceeds to tell us all about your plans, your reasoning, and what is going on out there. Why would you do that, especially to captives like us? No matter how you look at it, it’s weird.”

“…I guess that’s true.” The man chuckles as he stands up straight away from the wall, “To be honest, I don’t really like this whole rebellion and revenge thing. Sure, they might be after us, but it has been several decades since our kingdom lost the war. The people who gave that order to begin with might be dead, or retired at this point. There’s no point to all of this.”

“Then why go through with it?” I asked, “Why take part in all of this!?”

“It’s Desiree.”

“Desiree? Your sister?”

“She has it in her head that the Britt Kingdom is the cause for our parents’ death, for the death of countless of our fellow townspeople.” He explains, “And she’ll stop at nothing to get revenge for it; she calls it rightful justice, but with each passing day, I saw what it is doing to her. How that hatred has took a hold on her, change her into something she’s not. If we don’t do this, I’m afraid she’ll break, and I don’t want that!”

“You’re willing to sacrifice an entire kingdom just to save your sister’s sanity?” Deuce pointed out.

“Yes!” He shouted, “She’s all that I have left! And we’re family. Family always take care of each other.”

“Then you should have stop her!” I shouted at him, “Revenge isn’t the right answer! It never is!”

“Then what is it!?” He shouted back, “What should I have done!? Tell me!”

“…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“That doesn’t explain why you are telling us all of this.” Deuce noted, “Why are you telling us?”

“To be honest… I don’t know why I told you guys myself.” He stated, “Maybe it’s because I needed to de-stress myself from all of this, or maybe I just wanted to someone to talk to that isn’t a pirate outlaw or rebel soldier, or maybe…”

Then all of a sudden, echoing footsteps can be heard as a young man in the same attire as the two people standing next to Desiree back in the base walks up to him and gave him a salute, “Sir, Madam Desiree requires your presence.”

“She’s probably wants to go over the attack strategy…” He mutters, “Well, it has been a good talk, but I got to go-”

“Wait!” I call out to him, he stopping in his tracks, “What’s your name?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I just want to know the person who is willing to tell us his entire plan.”

“…It’s Vi.”

And without another word, he walks off, closing and locking the cell’s door behind him.

“…Well, that was a fun time.” Ace commented.

“I didn’t imagine that they would have such a reason for doing this…” Deuce stated as he slumps down against the wall, “To think that the Britt Kingdom bombarded a town for having refugees… guess every nation has its dark side.”

“Yeah… can’t say that I blame them for doing such a thing.” I stated, “But still… something feels off…”

“Off?” The two pirates look at me, “What is?”

“The whole thing with the town.” I explained, “It has been few decades since the war ended, and somehow a town that so happens to be home to several descendants of the war’s refugees gets bombarded by the war’s victors? Don’t you think that’s a little too coincidental?”

“Sounds just fine to me.” Deuce nodded.

“Yeah, some kingdoms are just that much of an asshole.” Ace stated with a scowl. He must be thinking about what happen with Sabo, and the Goa Kingdom in general… but even so…

“Even so, ships just so happen to be flying the Britt Kingdom’s flags?” I pointed out, “There’s not a single vessel bearing the kingdom’s colours in Port Royalise, not even a trade ship! And Luna has told me that it was only recently that they started focusing attention on their naval forces!”

“But then, what about the ships Vi told us?”

“That, I do not know for certain…”

All of this just feels like a setup, a move within the most cliché of motives ever conceived in a such a scenario as this one. If that’s the case, who is the one truly responsible? The ‘puppet master’ of this entire plan, the one that will be the only one benefitting from this whole thing?

I only have two people in mind, and cliché as it might be, either one is possible.

* * *

The sun has just set a few moments ago, leaving the night sky shimmering with countless stars. Most of the crew are in bed, minus the one manning the rudder and night guard on duty.

Vi let out a small yawn as he walks onto the empty deck, a small table already prepared with the diagram of their objective’s location spread across it with the important points indicated by pins along with a Den Den Mushi on call with Reginold, if the frown on the mollusc is any indication. Due to it being in the dead of night, there’s a small gas lamp being lit next to it.

Around the table is his sister Desiree, the leader of this little rebellion, as well as the pirate captain of the two sailing vessels they are currently using, Gear Head Tok.

Gear Head Tok… he remembered the first time he met the pirate captain himself. Reginold has stated that they need the manpower for his plans to succeed, and that while unsavoury, they are the best option they have at the moment. And to be fair, they don’t have many options to begin with, so he reluctantly agrees to work with him.

From the start, no one likes the pirates. They are loud, brash, and straight up unruly for their taste. There are times in which they all proudly proclaim their victorious plunder and even their loot and… well, let’s just say there’s a reason why Desiree isn’t willing tolerate the pirates who wishes to ‘conquer’ her. One of them is missing several fingers as a painful reminder of that.

But despite all that, he had to admit that they deliver what they are ordered to do. Smuggled weapons of all kind come in droves once they recruited his aid, and their forces is further bolstered with the addition of his pirate crews.

What was once a squadron of about a few dozen troops now became a small army of at least a hundred men strong.

Though, there were set backs with Tok going full off-course and decided to plunder a few trading ships which draw the attention of the Britt’s military and cutting off any possible ideas of a naval assault.

“You’re late.” His sister tells him.

“Sorry, sorry.” He apologizes as he walks up to three of them, two if you exclude the snail on the table, “Have to deal with something first.”

“Down in the brig, you mean?” Tok asked with a devilish grin, getting a flinch from second-in-command, “Did that little lass down there piqued your interest? Did you have your way with her, while her friends watch–”

His sentence is cut off when Desiree has drawn and placed her sword’s blade dangerously close to the pirate captain’s neck, he raising his hands in surrender and freezes in place.

“Enough of your foul words, Tok.” She warns him as she pushes the blade onto his skin, “Do I need to remove your fingers too?”

“Tsk, tsk; temper, temper…” He mutters before he relaxes once the sword is off of him. He clears his throat while rubbing it, “Anyways… you call us here, Reggy. What is it?”

 _“Do not call me Reggy, pirate.”_ The ‘advisor’ tells him before continuing on, _“I wish to go over the plan with you people one last time.”_

“That’s it!?” The pirate groaned at that, “You woke me up from the best wet dream I ever have since the start of my career just for a briefing!?”

“There’s no harm in going over the plans one more time.” Desiree points out.

“No objections here.” Vi nodded.

“Urgh, fine… let’s just get this over with…”

 _“Right.”_ Reginold nodded and went on explaining the plan.

Once they made it to the place allocated on the map by daybreak, they are to arm up and report in to him before making their way into the tunnel with their hostage at hand. It’s just one straight path through the mountain so there shouldn’t be any major problems, but the size of tunnel isn’t that big, so they would need to split the army into small platoons so to head through faster.

A few meters in, they would come across a blockade of boulders. Once reached, they are not to do anything until Reginold gave the green to go ahead. Once the signal is received, they are to blow up the blockade using the explosives they acquired. If things went as planned, the troops they sent to infiltrate and replace the guards in the castle would be waiting for them.

Regardless, once the explosives went off, they only have a little amount of time for all their troops to move into the inner castle before the actual guards come for them. Once that is settled, the true action begins.

Tok and his pirates would rampage throughout the castle as a distraction to draw all the guards to them, while Vi and Desiree with a platoon of Latian soldiers sneak through the castle into the main throne room where Reginold is waiting with the current ruler of the Britt Kingdom.

There, using his dearest daughter as leverage, they would seize control over the capital, and force him to surrender all rights of Twilight Isles to them. After that… that’s up to Desiree.

_ “Are you all clear of your roles in this?” _

“Crystal!” Tok smirks while cracking his knuckles, “Head into the castle and go wild, right? That’s easy!”

“Do we really have to bring the princess?” Desiree asked with a scowl, “Can’t we just leave her here? We have a visual Den Den Mushi, don’t we?”

 _“The king wouldn’t believe us unless we give him solid and undeniable proof.”_ Reginold explains, _“We need her to be there in person.”_

“Grr…”

“While we’re on the topic of hostages, what about the three we have in the brig?” Vi brings up, “What purpose do they serve?”

 _“The ones accompanying the princess, yes?”_ Reginold thought for a moment, before deciding, _“Kill them. They are a waste of space, anyways.”_

“Kill them?” The young man wasn’t expecting an answer so cold from him, “Are you sure? Surely, they could be of some use?”

“What’s the matter, Vi?” Tok chuckles with a wangle of his eyebrows, “Took a fancy to them, or perhaps that young girl is your type? Then it’s simple! Kill the guys and enslave her! She could be your new pet to fulfil your every desire!”

“WHAT!? How could even suggest such a thing!!” He shouted at the pirate captain.

“Oh, then can I keep her? It’s been a while since I tasted such an unripe fruit–”

“Shut it!!” Without a second thought, he drew his sword and slashes at the pirate captain. Tok then simply raises his hand up and the blade is stopped in its tracks. Vi himself is stopped mid-swing; his entire body frozen in mid-air. His eyes darted about as he struggles to move even an inch to no avail.

“Ah, ah, ah~” The gear-themed pirate chuckles as he walks up next to the rebellion’s second-in-command, “You really shouldn’t have done that, boy. I’m an important ally, you know? And let’s be real here, you couldn’t lay a finger on me even if you wanted to.”

“Ur-Urgh…!”

“Now, what are you going to do about this?” He added, patting the young man’s cheek, “How are you going to make it to me, hm?”

_ “Tok. Release him at once.” _

“Tch. Party pooper.”

The pirate snaps his finger, Vi starts moving again and completes his swing before stepping back a few steps away from him.

_ “…Vi.” _

“Y-Yes, sir?”

 _“I want you to kill those three yourself.”_ Vi’s spine tingles at that command, cold sweat sliding down his forehead, _“Make it like they fall off the cliff. I expect no failures from you, understand?”_

“…Yes, I understand.” He nodded.

_ “Good. Then that concludes this briefing. Godspeed to you all.” _

…

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes! Finally done with this part! Man, I can’t believe I took this long to finish this!  
> So, yeah! Another new character! Vi, a simple name, yes? To be honest, I was just lazy with coming up with a name for him…  
> This arc is heading towards its climax! The reason for the coup is revealed, intrigues all around! Goddamn, this chapter is hard, but heck of a lot of fun to play around!


	15. Twilight Isles, Part Six

Luna let out a groan as she got back up, having spent the night sleeping on the hard wood floor. Desiree never shows herself again, not even the pirate captain has entered his own quarters for the night. That fact confuses her, and worries her to no end.

Not only that, the ship has begun moving for reasons she has no knowledge about. The scheduled time for their attack should be at least two days away, so why move now?

Did they change their schedule when Reginold found out about her eavesdropping? Did he move the time forward so she wouldn’t make it in time? All these thoughts races through her head even as she falls into slumber.

‘What is happening out there…?’

As she thought that, the door to the room opens and Desiree walks in with a scowl on her face.

“Get up.” She commanded as she pulls on the ropes binding her wrists together, pulling her up with little effort as she pushes her captive out of the room.

Luna winces from the sudden exposure to the morning sun; her eyes soon adapted to the daylight as she took a look around her and realises where they are right now.

The ships are docked at a cliff-face surrounded with stone worn down by the waves over several centuries, effectively creating a natural stone plateau of sorts that can act like a docking platform. Carved into the cliff-face is a large man-made cave that held up by several wooden arcs that looks like it has been there for decades, the wood has starts to worn down and there is some form of waterlog present in them.

‘That must be the tunnel grandfather told me about…’

Around the stony plateau are several tents pitched up with what looks like to be pirates and the resistance army wearing the same form of apparel as Desiree’s crowd wandering about, talking to one another and wielding flintlock muskets and pistols; some of them also have cutlasses and sabres strapped to their waist in leather holsters or held in place by leather belts.

There’s even a pole with a flag she recognised, one that her grandfather has shown her many times before.

A blue flag with three four-leaf clovers posed in a triangular pattern, each representing some virtue of the Latian Kingdom that she didn’t quite remember.

‘The rebellion… they must be the force that is planning the coup…’ She thought, ‘There’s a lot less people that I imagine it would be… although, it is possible that most of their forces must have infiltrated the castle already…’

“Move.” Her captor growled as she pushes her along, leaving the ship onto the plateau. On the way, she notices coming off of the ship are three individuals that she knows very well, one of them is being dragged along by a chain held by one of their soldiers while the other two are getting pushed forward like her by a man wearing the exact same uniform as Desiree.

“Luna!” Rein called out in shock.

“Rein! Deuce! Ace, too!” She stated in equal shock.

“What a nice reunion, isn’t it?” A rough voice stated with a chuckle, as Tok walks up to them with a dirty grin on his face, “Hello there, princess. How nice to finally meet you in person, and may I just say that rumours of your beauty is truly lacking.”

“You’re… Gear Head Tok.”

“In the flesh!” He laughed with a mock bow, “I see that my reputation precedes me!”

“Never… heard of you…” Ace groaned from his place on the ground.

“What’s wrong with him?” Luna asked Rein.

“Sea stone cuffs.” She explains, “Drains the power of a Devil Fruit user on contact.”

“Manages to pilfer a couple from a marine vessel we raided couple months ago.” The pirate captain stated as he walks up to the downed freckled pirate, “Came in pretty handy, didn’t it?” With that, he stomps on Ace’s head, “Can’t even muster a spark now, can’t you?”

“Fuck… you…”

“Too bad it can’t mute you, though.”

“Tok, enough.” The man holding her three companions warns him, “You don’t have to rough him up.”

“What? Can’t let a guy de-stress, Vi?” Tok stated as he stomps on the freckled pirate’s head a few more times, “This guy burned down my base, all my hard work is in ashes because of him! At least let me have this much!”

“H-Hey! Stop that!!” Deuce shouted angrily.

“That’s quite enough!” Desiree shouted at the pirate captain, her spare hand reaching for her sword, “Or do I have to make an example out of you?”

“…Tch.” He clicks his tongue, begrudgingly remove his foot from Ace’s head, “Whatever. At least you will be out of our hair soon enough.”

“What are you talking about?” Rein asked.

“Oh, right! We forgot to mention!” The pirate captain laughed, “We are given orders to execute the three of you. Or rather, Vi here is going to do so.”

“E-Execute!?” Luna shouted, struggling against her bonds, “You can’t do that!! Leave them out of this, it is me that you’re after!!”

“No can do, dear princess.” Tok chuckles, walking up and patting her cheek, “You see, Reginold has made his orders pretty clear. It’s a shame, though. I really wanted to have a taste of that little girl before she has to go.”

“Screw off, you sick bastard!!” Rein shouted at him, “There’s no way I’m letting you anywhere near me!!”

“Tok.”

“I know, I know.” He chuckles as he walks away, “She’s Vi’s problem to deal with, so stay out of it. No need to tell me twice. But can’t I at least–”

“Tok!”

“Okay, okay, I was joking. Sheesh, what’s up your ass this morning?”

Luna could watch as her three companions are being dragged away by man named Vi. She couldn’t believe it. Three people that have extended their hands to help her is going to die because of her. She was taught that being royalty means having responsibility over her subjects that looked up to her for guidance, that every action she makes will have consequences for them and their lives.

But she didn’t think that…

“Aw… look at the poor little prinwess~” Tok cooed, “Oh, how I wanted to just pushed her down and have my way–”

“Finish that sentence, and losing your finger would be mercy compared to what I’ll do to you.” Desiree stated angrily, “Round up the men. We have an attack to prepare for.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.” He mock-salutes her before walking off.

“Move it, princess.” She stated as she pushes Luna forward, “We have a coup to get ready for.”

* * *

 

I grunted out in pain as I’m shoved into the hard and stony ground, Deuce and Ace landing next to me from the same treatment. The future Fire Fist groaned out in pain as he is sluggishly trying to get up on his feet, the sea stone cuffs definitely draining his stamina very badly.

“Leave us.” Vi tells the soldier that was dragging Ace, he saluted before walking off. He then turns to us, drawing out his sword.

“Execution, huh?” Deuce stated with a grimace, “I knew it would be my fate once I became a pirate, but never would I thought it would come so soon…”

“I told you don’t like violence and bloodshed!?” I asked angrily, “Why are you doing this now!?”

“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t want to do this.” Our executioner sighs as he readies his sword, “But… orders are orders. Forgive me.”

I growled at the man, “Forgive this!” I transform my arms into their dragon forms and easily tore out of my ropes. Seeing Vi’s shock, he mustn’t have thought that I have Devil Fruit powers as I have suspected. But seeing him regain his bearings instantly shows that he is definitely one of the upper echelons of his group, as he stabs his sword towards me.

I quickly avoiding his attack, his blade sliding against my cheek and drawing some blood but I ignore it and slams my scaly fist into his face, knocking him back and onto his back. “Ow, ow… what kind of Devil Fruit is this!?”

“Strong scales, enormous strength.” I listed off as I fully transformed into my half-dragon form, slamming my fists together, “What do you think?”

“…Dragon…!?”

I turn to Deuce and used my claws to rip his apart his rope bonds, freeing his hands, “Get Ace, we’re going to find Luna and stop this rebellion.”

“We need the keys to his cuffs first.” Deuce explains as he lifts a sluggish Ace over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, “He’s useless like this, and I’m not so sure I can take down an army and take care of him at the same time.”

“I can take him… no… problem…”

“Good point.” I nodded, ignoring our very weaken pirate captain’s moans and turning to the groaning man on the ground, “Where are the keys to his cuffs?”

“Can’t say.” Vi stated, wiping some blood that leaked out of his lips as he gets back on his feet, getting into fighting stance, “But I can’t let you guys go. We have too much at stake for this plan to fail now.”

“Do you really think you can stop me right now?” I pointed out, cracking my fingers a little, “Last I checked, I’ve knocked you down easily.”

“You caught me by surprise, that’s all.” He stated, shifting his short sword into a reverse grip, “I’m not falling for that a second time.”

I really didn’t want to fight him unarmed. That time with Gin, as much as I hate to say it, was a fluke. I don’t think I’ll have another chance to take him out with one hit. Not to mention the fact that I’m not that skilled in unarmed combat beside very amateurish punches and kicks. But Deuce is unarmed as well, not to mention that Ace is dead weight until we can get those cuffs free.

That leaves only one option.

“Deuce, grab Ace and head into their camp. The keys might be in there somewhere.” I tell him, “I’ll stall him till you get back.”

“Got it! Just hang tight!” He stated as he ran off with Ace in tow.

“Hey! You’re not leaving!” Vi runs to stop them, but I dashes up to him and blocks his path, “Out of the way!”

“You’re dealing with me, Vi.” I stated, getting into a brawler-ish sort of stance.

“If that’s your wish…” He muttered as he raises his sword up, before his blade strikes at me.

* * *

 

Deuce quickly runs towards the camp, his captain dangling from his shoulders.

As he reaches the first tent, the soldiers and pirates are already arming up and preparing heading into the tunnel. Desiree is leading in front with Luna in her grasps and Tok not too far behind.

“Princess!”

“Deuce! Ace!!” Luna screams in shock.

“Tch, Vi screwed up, huh?” Tok stated with a scoff, “That’s siblings for you. Letting you down when you need them the most.”

“Shut up!” Desiree shouted at the pirate captain before turning to her troops, “Men! Take them down! Those with the first platoon, come with me! We have no more time to waste!!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

A few of the soldiers armed with muskets took aim and fired, Deuce barely dodges past the rain of lead that would have filled both him and his captain with holes before running away from them. A quick glance behind to reveal several of the soldier with a few pirates coming straight for him with swords drawn and pistols aimed at him.

“Zzz…”

“Are you seriously sleeping right now!?” He screams at the snoozing freckled pirate, as he barely avoided another lead round that grazed his side, “Damn it! Where’s that key!?”

Another group of pirates and soldiers cut him off, flanking him on both sides. One of the soldiers decides to take the initiative to slash his sabre at him. He manages to duck under the slash and lands a sucker punch into his face, knocking the soldier unconscious.

“Ah! He took out Kenny!”

“That bastard!!”

All the soldiers all took aim at Deuce, who is starting to freak out at the situation.

‘Crap, crap, crap!’ He looks around, ‘Trapped, and with nowhere to take cover! What do I do!?’ He then looked down at the unconscious soldier, and a devious idea pop into his head, ‘I’m a pirate, aren’t I? So I’ll fight like one!’

With that in mind, he grabs the ‘body’ of the soldier and raises him up as a form of human shield. “Come on! Shoot! I dare you!!” That got an immediate effect as the soldiers all hesitant and lowered their muskets, “What, chicken!?”

“Damn it! Using Kenny as a shield!! Have some damn respect for the unconscious, damn it!” One of the soldiers shouted.

“What’s the hold up!?” A pirate shouted as he took aim with his pistol, “Fill him with lead already!!”

“Don’t shoot!” The soldier tells him, grabbing his pistol by the barrel, “You’ll hit Kenny!”

“Yeah, so?” The pirate shrugs his shoulder, wrenching his pistol off the soldier’s grip. “He’s tough. He can handle a few bullets. Besides, it’s that idiot’s fault that jumping in like that and then getting caught in the first place!”

*SMACK*

“OW!? What the fuck, asshole!?”

“That idiot is my boyfriend, you dick!!”

The pirate grabs the soldier by the scuff of his collar. “What do you just call me, faggot!?”

“I call you a dick, pirate scum!!” The soldier shouted back, letting loose another punch into his face.

“Hey! Hey! Knock it off!!” One of the soldiers shouted as the two of them are locked in a scuffle, “Now is not the time for this!”

“Let them fight.” Another pirate tells him as he took aim with his rifle, “I’ll handle this.”

“I just said not to shoot!” He tells him as he pushes the rifle aside, it went off prematurely and hits another pirate in the thigh.

“AIIEEE!!” The pirate screams in pain, clutching his injured thigh in pain before tripping over and dropping his cutlass, its blade somehow landing and stabbing into the feet of one of the soldiers.

That causes that soldier to scream in pain and clutch his feet in agony which resulted in tripping onto the pirate behind him, who ended up accidentally firing his pistol which hits through another soldier’s ear, resulting in HIM screaming in pain which causes the pirate in front of him to flinch and misfire his pistol and hitting another soldier and so on and so forth.

This series of unfortunate of shooting and stabbing went on and on until pretty much everyone is either on the ground groaning and screaming in pain and agony or in a fist fight for some reason or another, leaving Deuce still holding onto the unconscious body while the duo from before are still brawling away.

“…Huh.” Deuce could only stare and ponder on the sheer amount of luck he has in the situation, for not a single bullet that has accidentally fired has hit him once.

“Hm…? What happened?” Kenny then took this time to wake up.

*SMACK*

“GAH!”

Only to be put back on ice with another punch to the face.

“This was… a whole lot easier than I thought it would be…” He muttered as he tosses the unconscious body aside. As he did, sounds of something metallic dropping onto the ground caught his attention. He turned to the unconscious soldier, before slowing making his way up to him. “Now that I think about it… he kinda looks like the guy that was dragging Ace around just now…”

With that in mind, he dug his hands into the soldier’s pockets, and felt a metallic item with his fingers. “Jackpot!”

* * *

“Grk!!”

I blocked another slash from Vi with my scaled arm, his blade skidding off my hard scales.

We have been fighting for who knows how long now. I didn’t keep count, but it has been quite a good while. His blade can’t cut through my scales, but his relentless attacks aren’t letting me do anything besides guarding; not to mention the fact that he keeps trying to get past me to get to Deuce and Ace.

“Die already!” He shouted, twisting his body and slashing upwards from below me.

“Not happening!” I shouted back as I block his attack again.

Vi steps back, twirling his sword into a reverse grip. “Look, I know you don’t like the whole executing thing. But you have no idea what’s at stake here! I have no choice!”

“I think you do!!” I tell him, “Look, I get that this is supposed to help your sister cope with her feelings, but this isn’t the way! If she ended up going through with this, it’s not going to end well! Revenge is never the right way!!”

“It’s the only way that we have left!!” He shouted back, swinging his blade in wide slashes at me while I block and dodge all of them, “We have put too much, waited too long to back down now!! Too much is riding on this for it to fail in our face right now!!”

His sword stabs towards me, I crossed my arms to block it. Not a word is getting to him at all! From what I can tell in our conversation last night, Vi doesn’t really want to take revenge at all, that he isn’t someone who is motivated by revenge or hatred. If anything, he cares more for his own blood then anything else.

I then uncross my arms and pushes him back. But his desire to help out his only remaining family is definitely not to be underestimated, even if the actions he took isn’t the proper way to go with her current situation…

“Goddamn it!!” After regaining his footing, he swings his blade at me and slashes into my scales with no effect. But he followed up on that attack with a kick into my stomach, knocking me back onto my back. After gasping for a moment, I quickly rolled out of the way of his blade stabbing down at me.

After getting back on my feet, “Ora!!” I dug my foot in forward and slams another punch into his gut.

“Grk!!” I managed to knock him several steps back with that attack, before he got his bearings back and charges at me with a stab ready. I crossed my arms again to block the attack, only for him to toss his weapon into air midway. And when my attention followed the spinning sword up, I felt his fist painfully dug itself into my sternum hard.

“Gah!!” I let out a gasp in pain, coughing slightly from the unexpected attack which is then followed up by an uppercut to my chin, knocking my face upwards just as I saw his spinning sword fall down towards me as he grabs onto his weapon and slashes down.

I wasn’t able to react in time, only able to move my head slightly as his blade slashes across my face. Thankfully, his attack misses either of my eyes but by the sudden searing pain that came from my right temple, I say his attack at least left a bit of a mark.

A few staggering steps back later, I felt my wound and saw the tip of my fingers dyed in blood. “Damn…” Great, another wound to my face. Why do people keep aiming for my face!?

“I thought so.” He twirls his sword around before pointing the blade’s tip at me, “Your scales may be tough, but they only covered only small parts of your body like your lips and part of your head. But your face and joints? That’s a no brainer. And if I were to guess, I say your chest and gut area aren’t so protected either. Why else would you protect them?”

He definitely has that part of me figured out. Yes, my scales are tough, but Sen has pointed out that only some part of my body is covered by them, most notable are my limps and my head. For some reason, my frontal chest area isn’t that well protected with scales only covering my ribs but not my chest, for some reason.

Sen never has a proper explanation for that, but I think it has something to do with the fact that breasts are needed to ween the young. That, or the idea of Oda coming up with a super sexy dragon girl is up there. I mean, Nami’s attire definitely leave nothing to the imagination, and yet she barely suffers any major damage to her gut and chest areas.

Anime logic, everyone.

“Now that’s apparent.” He spun his blade before holding it in a reverse grip, “I know where to aim for now.”

‘Like you haven’t aimed for them before…’ That thought crosses my mind as I got back into a fighting stance.

But before any of us can continue our fight, a pillar of flame erupts from the camp site. And knowing of only one person who can create such a spectacle, I let loose a small chuckle. He sure took his time, didn’t he?

“I’M BACK, BITCHES!!”

With that loud cry, Ace flew up into the sky and came crashing down between us in a ball of fire.

“Quite an entrance.” I noted with a small grin.

“What can I say?” He chuckles as embers floated off of his body while he tilts his hat with a flaming finger, “I like to leave a great impression.”

What a show-off…

“…Okay, that’s it. No fucking way I’m doing this.” Vi sighs as he sheathes his weapon, raising his hands up in surrender, “I’m out. I’m not fighting two Devil Fruit users, especially when one of them I can’t even hit.”

“Oh, come on. Really?” Ace stated with a groan, “I’ve a lot of pent up stress I want to release by beating people up and you’re not even going to fight back?”

“Not worth the effort.” He states with a shrug of his shoulders, “Besides, I think I’ve kept you people here long enough.”

“What do you–”

My question is answered when a loud boom can be heard from the cave, as smoke starts bellowing out of it. Wait, what the hell!? Did they blow up the cave!?

“What was that!?” Ace asked.

“We need some way to getting through,” He explains, “and what better way to unplug an underground tunnel than with some good old TNT?”

“Then they have made it into capital!” I concluded to my horror. Their coup is already on the way!!

“Yeah, and to top it off…” Ace turns to me, “Deuce saw them drag Luna with them into the tunnel.”

“WHAT!?” This is bad! Luna might get caught up in the fighting at this rate! “We need to chase after them!”

“Way ahead of you! Deuce already went on ahead! Let’s hope he’s not caught in the explosion!”

With that said, we all took to a run towards the tunnel’s entrance.

But then I stop for a moment and looked back at Vi. This guy is definitely strange. Just before, he has me on the ropes, not to mention his determination to do right for his sister is unparallel as far as I know of. But once Ace is freed, he just gave up? Why go through all of that only to give up at the end?

Unless…

“Vi, you…” He looked up at me as I said my piece, “Do you want us to stop your sister?”

“…” He put down his hands down before a small dejected chuckle slip through his lips, “You had me figured out, didn’t you?”

“Why else would you tell us your whole backstory?” I pointed out, “This was your plan all along, isn’t it? You want us to stop your sister from going through with this.”

“…That’s right.” He chuckles, “…I can’t stop Desiree. No matter how much I asked her to stop, she wouldn’t listen. Reginold has gotten into her head that this is something she needs to do, that this was revenge for our parents, for our town. That this would bring her closure.”

“But I know what he’s really after. He wants the Twilight Isles, to become its ruler. He wants to become king. And once he had it, he would just throw me and Desiree away! He just using the attack on our town as a goddamn excuse to push her forward, to drag her into this path of vengeance!”

“If you know all of that, can’t you just tell her that!?” I asked, “Why carry on helping her with it!?”

“You think I didn’t try that already!?” He screams at me, “I’ve told her that, and she just didn’t care! She would willingly die if it meant getting revenge! No matter what I say, it wouldn’t convince her! So, I have no choice but to help her with it. It’s the only option I have left!”

“…Vi…”

“When I heard princess has found out about the coup and is working to stop it, I thought that this might be it.” He continues on, “She might be able to put a stop to this, even if it meant life-sentences for all of us. But then you guys got captured, and now we’re here.”

“And when Ace is freed, you thought that we have another chance to stopping her.” I concluded, “Is that what you are saying?”

“…In a way.” He nodded, “It’s all the hope I have left. You guys are the only ones that can stop Desiree.”

“…No.” I looked at him as he stares back in either shock or horror. This isn’t the way he has to do this. “We can’t be the ones to stop her. You have to stop her, Vi. You, and no one else.”

“I told you, I can’t! She wouldn’t listen to me!”

“Then keep doing until she does!!” I shouted back angrily, “If your family is about to do something stupid that would hurt themselves, it is your duty to stop her from doing so! You don’t get to give up after trying and failing once! You have to keep on trying and trying again and again until it gets through her thick skull!! Otherwise, who else will!?”

“…You are definitely right…” He muttered, clenching his fists, “But what else is there for me to do!? What can I even do at this point! It’s far too late now!!”

“No, it’s not.”

His look of confusion is more than enough for me to know that he doesn’t know the full picture. “She wants revenge against the ones responsible for your town’s destruction, right? What if the ones responsible isn’t the Britt Kingdom? What if it’s someone else?”

“Someone else? Who else would–” When his eyes widen, I knew he probably know who, “You don’t mean… HIM!?”

“Yeah. Your good ‘pal’ Reginold.” I stated, “Think about it. He just so happens to come across your destroyed town, and just so happens to know who destroyed it with a flag to back his claim, along with a plan to help you guys get ‘revenge’. And you said it yourself, he wants the throne to himself. Put all of the pieces together, and you get your answer.”

“He… I knew he is despicable, but for him to do something like this…!” Vi let out a growl at that, “THAT NO GOOD SCHEMING BASTARD!!”

“Vi.” I looked at him, “We need to tell your sister the truth. We won’t be able to stop her from taking revenge, but at least this way she wouldn’t die due to a scheme by her family’s murderer.”

“…Right.” He nodded, “Let’s go.”

With that, we all dashes into the tunnel with another mission in mind. Well, two if you are being specific.

Stop Reginold, and stop Desiree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup! Finally done! Damn, it was tricky on how to write this! Didn’t think it would be this hard! Welp, with this up, this arc’s climax is only couple of chapters away! Didn’t think it’ll take this long, but I did it!
> 
> Now for those who aren't reading this on SpaceBattles and SufficientVelocity, I’m here to let you all know that I’m planning on writing a Danmachi SI after this arc’s end. It’ll first be on my One-Shots galore fic with my other pilot chapters that I’ve come up with.
> 
> Currently, the only one that I’ve posted is my idea on a Rising of the Shield Hero fic, where there’s a Reincarnation OC which helps out Naofumi in his adventures. It’s pretty rough, but the basic premise is still there. I’ll be writing a proper fic for that one too, just not any time soon.
> 
> If you guys are interested, have a gander there and tell me what you think! Comments are gratefully appreciated!


	16. Twilight Isles, Part Seven

Brittia, the capital of the Britt Kingdom.

It is the largest castle town on all the island that has a population of about a hundred thousand people. The town itself is situated at the base of the island’s lone mountain with a deep moat dug around its perimeters as well as tall defensive walls surrounding the town with a bridge for both travellers and traders to cross, remnants of the late bloody civil war.

Its buildings consist of wooden and brick houses with clay tile roofs, all separated into several districts. Each district is designated a coloured banner of its governing body, more than often being the ones that holds an official position in the main government office

In the centre of it all, stood the symbol of the Britt Kingdom itself and the home of the royalty that rules over this land, Brittia Castle.

A large castle made of white bricks with light blue roofs and two towers that acts as lookout points on its side with the kingdom’s flag fluttering proudly on top of its cone-shaped roofs, it is a monumental fortress that serves as both the royal court and the kingdom’s main government office for all its ministries.

And right now, it is the place of havoc and chaos.

Gunfire echoes within the walls, blood splattered all over the grass and brick-layered pavement, bloodied and sometimes horribly mutilated bodies of loyal soldiers scattered all over as the armed men continued their rampage.

It all began with a large explosion somewhere at the back of the castle that was built into the mountain along with screams of soldiers and guardsmen who are unlucky enough to be caught in the blast. After that, groups of armed men rush out shouting, shooting and killing all the soldiers in the area.

At the same time, many places around the castle has experience mutiny of their one, with random soldiers turning on their fellow men, to some of the guards attacking and sometimes killing the government officials that were assigned to. It is pure chaos, with no signs of it slowing down.

Naturally, all soldiers posted in the capital, with exceptions to the ones guarding the city gates, are called to the castle as reinforcements to help quell the mayhem. But they aren’t able to, due to the fact that some time before this all started, the castle’s gates are closed and locked down, preventing anyone from entering or exiting.

Despite this, the ones that are posted inside the castle are able to react with much urgency and as swiftly as they could, managing to keep the rampage locked in a single location. The few trained elite units are more than capable of stopping the terrorists from spreading their violence any further.

Even so, they are kept in a deadlock against the terrorists. They are lacking in the required manpower to deal with them, holding them back is all they can do.

* * *

One of the soldiers posted here hid under the window overlooking the courtyard, his musket smoking from a freshly fired shot. His white uniform shirt soaked with sweat and soot, his dark blue pants covered in dirt and gravel, while his cap has a few gashes from a few close-calls from enemy fire.

He let out a tired sigh as he reloads his musket, turning to his partner who just finished reloading, “This situation looks bad, doesn’t it?”

“Understatement of the decade.” He stated as he took aim from the window ledge, “We are outmanned and outgunned. There are no reinforcements coming, so we’re on our own. And to top it all off…” He fired a shot into enemy lines, “I’m down to my last round.”

“I’m the same.” The soldier sighs, cocking back his musket’s trigger, “We are so screwed…”

“Man, this is not how I expect today to go at all…” His partner groans, “And just when I’ve decided to propose to Elise too…”

“Oh, that was today? Do you had it all planned out?”

“With the dinner and the music and everything. Now… I’m not sure if I’m even going to survive long enough to do it.”

“She’s going to be bawling her eyes out at our funeral.”

“Oh, definitely.”

“…Brother.” He looks at his partner with a resigned smile, “It’s an honour fighting alongside you.”

“…Same to you, brother.” He nodded; a sob croaked out of his throat.

“So…” The soldier stood up, gripping his musket tightly, “One last shot to end this?”

“Yeah.” His partner followed suit, “Let’s greet death with a bang-”

*BOOM!*

They blinked at the sudden explosion, before peeking out of the window; just as a large column of flames bursts out of the hole the terrorists came out of. A large fireball flew into the air, before descending and crashing into the courtyard in an explosion of flames.

And from that fireball, comes out a single man with embers emitting off his body, his mouth curled up in a smirk as he holds his orange hat in place. “Payback time, bitches!”

“…What the fuck just happened…?”

* * *

I let out a groan at the entrance that Ace has just did. Does he really have to do that? I get that the plan involved him dealing with the rampaging pirates but he doesn’t need to make a show out of it.

Then again, this is the Gol D Roger’s son we’re talking about here; and if what Rayleigh says is true, then he is equally as boisterous as his father. Guess there are some things that are linked together by genetics….

“Rein, we need to go, now.” Deuce tells me, knocking me out of my thoughts as he and Vi ran towards the castle, with me quickly catching up to them.

On our way through the tunnel, Vi has outlined the plan Reginold has concocted for today’s events to us, as well as his decision to use Luna as a bargaining chip/hostage against her father. After that, Deuce has come up with a plan to deal with it and save the princess.

First, Ace has to draw the pirates’ attention away from the soldiers, allowing them a chance to counterattack. When the pirates are distracted by him, we head into the castle and find the throne room. With luck, we’ll make it there before Desiree and call out Reginold for what he did. After that, we’ll deal with Desiree and rescue Luna.

But, in the likely scenario she made it there before we did, we have to stop the deal from happening and rescue Luna. If needed, we have to save the king too.

“You do know where you are going, right?” I asked Vi, just as Ace fires off another Fire Fist into the crowd of pirates, no doubt barbequing them to a crisp.

“Don’t worry.” He nodded. “Reginold got us the schematics of the castle and outlined the shortest path towards the throne room.”

“Wouldn’t we run into Desiree on the way there?” Deuce pointed out, “We could rescue her then.”

“If we’re lucky.” Vi stated, “But Desiree has quite a head start from us. I doubt we’ll be to catch up to her before she reaches it.”

“Then we need to hurry.” I noted as I pick up the pace, “Could you tell us more about Reginold? Any gimmicks we need to be aware of?”

“Nothing in particular, to be honest.” The former rebel shakes his head, “I hardly communicated with him myself; only Desiree has any real contact with him over the years. I do know that he is a decent swordsman, but that’s about it.”

“Then he might have other things we do not know about…” Deuce noted.

Just as we are about to enter the castle, a loud laughter can be heard from the pirates that drew our attention.

From the group of pirates, Tok shows himself with a flintlock pistol in his hand while his hand is raised towards a blast of flames that is coming towards him. But on further examination, something is off.

The fire blast that Ace has fired seems to be frozen in place, not in ice but stopped moving completely. The fire, that would normally be flickering about like all fires should, looks stiff like it’s a prop and not an element of heat and destruction that it is.

“Hahaha! Man, what a shocking turn of events!” The pirate captain laughed, “I thought my men had butchered you back in the camp, but I guessed I’ve thought wrong!”

“What did you do!?” Ace shouted at him, “Why is my fire all weird?”

“Geez, I wonder…?” Tok smirked with a shrug of his shoulder, “Maybe your Devil Fruit is acting up?”

“Tch, but this is great.” The freckled pirate captain snickers as he ignites his fist, “I was hoping to run into you! I’m going to pay you back for that kicking you did just now!”

“Be careful, Ace!” Vi shouted out, “Tok has a Devil Fruit power too! He can stop anything in its tracks, no matter what it is!”

“Huh? Stop things? What do you mean?”

“Oi, oi, what’s the deal, Vi? Why are you selling me out like that!?” Tok shouted at him, “You betraying us, betraying your sister?”

“No, I’m saving my sister.” He stated firmly before turning back towards the castle, “Come on! This way!”

“Damn you… Stop them!!”

With the command from their captain, the pirates all ignore the flames and rushes towards us. I prepare to transform into my half-dragon form to fight, only for Deuce to run past me before slamming his fist into the first one he runs into. “Deuce!”

“You’re dealing with me!” He shouted at the pirates, his fists up in a semi-boxing stance, “Come on!”

“You’re dead meat, asshole!!” One of the pirates shouted as he swings his sword–Hey, wait a minute there!! That’s Nanashi he’s holding!!

“Hands off my sword!” I shouted as I rushed forward and lands my scaly fist into his cheek, knocking him out instantly as I grab my weapon out of his grasps and grimaced at the sticky handle, “Urgh, now it’s all sticky…!”

“Did you really have to do that?” Deuce asked me as I plucked the sheathe from the pirate’s waistband.

“This sword is a rental.” I tells him as I sheathes Nanashi, “And I’m afraid what Sen would do to me if I lost it to some random pirate.” Shivers went down my spine at the thought of the possible torturous training regiments he could force me to do if he finds out. “I can feel the aching muscles already…”

“Sheesh… That’s one hell of a mentor you have there…”

“…Why are you idiots just standing there!?” Tok shouted angrily, “Get them already!!”

“A…Aye-aye, captain!!”

“Don’t you look away now!!” Ace shouted as I saw him fires a fire blast at the pirate captain, who raises his hand again and stopped the blast in its tracks, “Damn it, again!?”

“Rein! Deuce! We don’t have time to mess around!!” Vi calls out to us, “We have to go now!!”

“He’s right.” Deuce nodded as he turns to me, “You go on ahead! Just leave these guys to me!”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Better you than me. Besides…” He gestured to Ace fighting Tok, “If that Tok guy is as dangerous as that rebel guy says he is, Ace going to need some backup.”

“…Alright. I’m leaving them to you!”

He nodded before rushing to meet the pirates coming towards us. I quickly run back to Vi, and we both run into the castle with him taking the lead.

* * *

Ace fires another blast of fire at Tok, who once again stopped the attack by raising his hand up to it much to his irritation. He then walks around it and fires his firearm at the freckled pirate, who simply took the attack at face value as the bullet just goes through him with no effect as his ‘wound’ seals itself up with a slight flicker of flames.

“Your attack won’t work on me.” Ace stated as he readies another fire blast, “But damn it, how you are stopping my flames!? What kind of Devil Fruit does that!?”

“You really want to know?” Tok chuckles as he reloads his pistol, “Sure, I’ll tell you. I’ve eaten the Stop-Stop Fruit and became Stop-Human.”

“Stop-Stop Fruit?”

“I’m capable of stopping anything.” He explains, “No matter how big or how impossible it is, it would be stopped. Stones, water, even fire. No attack could touch me.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s test that theory!!”

Ace fires another fire blast right at the gear-themed pirate, who simply raise his hand to stop it. The blast, however, isn’t aimed at him and blast into the ground in front of him, blocking his view with flickers of fire and ember. Tok blinked at the sudden change in tactics, before Ace leap through the fire and ready his fist to punch him.

“Eat my fist, you gear-head asshole!!”

Tok’s eyes widen at that, before he smirked and raises his hand up to his attacker. Ace’s eyes widen as he suddenly stopped in mid-air, his body stiff as stone. ‘W-What the hell!?’

“Wow, I’ve never seen a bigger idiot in my life!” Tok laughed as the freckled pirate’s eyes darted about in a panic, “Hahaha, you moron! I’ve said it before, didn’t I? I can stop anything! That includes human being too!”

‘Crap! I can’t believe I pulled a Luffy!’

“Oh, but that’s not all.” He added as he raises his pistol and aimed at Ace’s shoulder. He then proceeds to cock back the hammer and pulls the trigger, firing a round into the freckled pirate. Normally, the lead bullet would just go right through due to his body being made of fire, but this time something unpreceded happened.

The bullet instead pierces into his shoulder with a splutter of blood.

‘O-OW! What the fuck!? I shouldn’t be able to get hurt like that!’

“I can tell you are surprised.” Tok chuckles as he reloads his pistol, “When I said I can stop anything, I meant stop them in all sense of the word. Their velocity, their movements, all of them stopped! From what I can tell, your body turns itself into fire whenever you got shot. But now that your body has stopped, it can’t turn into fire!”

‘T-This is bad!’

“Which means!” He cocks and aims his firearm at the freckled pirate’s forehead, “I’m now able to kill you.”

‘S-Shit!’

Tok’s grin widens at the prospect of ending his life as he slowly closes his finger around the trigger. He then took his sweet time to pull the trigger, slowly moving the trigger back as to savour the moment of finally killing the man that caused him so much trouble.

But just as he is about finally fully squeeze the trigger, a handcuff is slapped onto his wrist.

And not just any handcuff, it’s the very same sea-stone handcuff that was around the freckled pirate’s wrists just a few moments prior.

“W-What the hell!?” Tok cried out, before dropping to his knees as he felt his strength left him. That immediately freed Ace from his power’s grasp, the freckled pirate dropping onto the ground with a loud thud.

“Kept that just in case.” The gear-themed pirate turned to see Deuce walking up to him. The masked pirate has a few bruises here and there, but otherwise is pretty much unscathed and spotting one of the smuggest faces that ever graced the East Blue.

“Y-You!? How!? What about my men!?”

“Oh, took care of them.” He points at the unconscious pirates lying all over the ground, “I may have dropped out of medical school, but I’ve learned enough of the human body to know where to aim to deal the most pain.”

“T-This can’t be…!”

“Oi.”

Tok flinched at the voice, turning to see Ace has walked up to him and is slowly cracking his knuckles with wide grin on his face, “Payback time.”

“W-Whoa there! Let’s not get too hasty now–”

What follows is the most satisfying beatdown Ace ever given since the start of his pirate career. The amount of violence against this one pirate is too much for words to describe. But the results are till the same.

Tok is left groaning in pain and agony with multiple bumps and bruises, while the freckled pirate has the most satisfied smile on his face.

“Whew! That’s refreshing!”

“Only you would think of beating someone up as refreshing…” His first mate muttered.

“Hey, he has put me through shit since yesterday! I deserved this much!” He stated.

“Damn it…” They heard Tok manages to grunt out, “This is not worth that hidden treasure he promised…”

That caught their attention, as they turn their attention back to the groaning pirate who had realised what he just said, “What hidden treasure?”

“Um…”

* * *

Painful gurgle escapes the mouth of one of the elite guardsmen who collapsed onto the carpet along with his brethren-in-arms, cut down by one of their own.

The current ruler of the Britt Kingdom, a man with dark brown hair in noble clothes of blue and white with an eye patch that goes by the name of Solaria Peragon, could only witness in shock of the betrayal by his most trusted advisor.

The main throne room of Brittia Castle is the sole largest room in the entire building, designed to host at least several hundred men in one sitting. Its interior reflects on the kingdom’s national colours of white and red with a dash of yellow in some of the finer details, a large carpet is rolled out from the entrance to the thrones of the royal family, each designated to the current ruler’s family members.

“R-Reginold…? What are you doing…!?”

The carpet, once a beautiful shade of red with yellow lining, is stained with patches of wet blood dripped from the traitor’s broadsword. The former advisor snickers at the king’s surprised face, “Isn’t it obvious? I’m staging a coup.”

“A coup!? Why!?”

“Why else?” He flicks the blood off his weapon’s blade, just as the doors to the throne room is opened, “To usurp you from the throne, and to return the Twilight Isles to its TRUE ruler.” Desiree then proceeds to walk in, dragging his daughter with her as several men in similar attire to hers followed suit.

“F-Father!” Luna cried out.

“Luna!!” Solaria turns to Reginold with a glare, “Unhand my daughter at once!!”

“I’m sorry that’s not possible.” The traitor tells him as he walks up to her, holding her head up by the chin, “For you see, I needed a little insurance against you.”

“Let her go, Reginold!!” The king shouted as he stood up from his throne, his prostatic peg of a leg visible from his pants’ legs.

“Ah, ah! Not so fast!” The noble man raises his blade up to the princess’s neck, its tip dangerously close to her windpipe, “Unless you do as we say, she’ll be bleeding quite intensively.”

“Y-You…!” Solaria gritted his teeth while a growl vibrated from his throat. And with great reluctance, he sat back down, “Fine…what do you want?”

“Oh, I’m not that one with the demands.” He gestured to Desiree who shoved their hostage into his arms.

The rebel leader stomps up to him, drawing her sword out as she glares dagger at the ruling king, “Ten years ago. Do you remember ordering an attack on a small port town?”

“W-What?”

“Answer me!!” She raises her longsword to his neck, “Do you remember ordering an attack on a small, innocent, insignificant port town, all because some of us has the blood from the Latian Kingdom!? Did you have that town razed to the ground, just because I have the blood of Latian Royalty!?”

“Latian… Royalty…?”

“Yes!” Reginold cheered, “This girl right here is the granddaughter of the late Latian King, King Charles Constantine the II! By birth right, she is the rightly heir to the throne–”

“Shut up, Reginold!!” Desiree turns to him with a cold glare, “I’m the one making the demands here, not you.”

“…Very well. Please proceed.”

She turns back to the king, her eyes burning with anger and vengeance, “Answer me, oh great ruler of this land. Did you have my town razed to the ground or not!?”

“…I do not know what you are talking about.” He stated in confusion, “There was no such order given–”

“LIES!” She shouted, slamming her sword into the gold-plated wooden throne to his shock as she got right up to his face, “Your kingdom flags were on those ships!! Your soldiers are spotted manning them!! It can only be your men who destroyed my town!! Tell me the truth!!”

“Like I said, I have no idea what you are implying!” Solaria stated, “I have issued no such order! Are you sure you are not mistaken?”

“…Fine. Keep lying.” Desiree growled, “It doesn’t matter if you admit to it or not. All that matters…” She pulls her weapon free before pulling back, aiming the blade’s tip at his throat, “…is that you pay for what you’ve done.”

“FATHER!!” Luna screams in horror as the rebel leader prepares to stab the king’s throat.

* * *

“A right turn here and down this corridor!” Vi instructed as we race through the castle with much haste, “The door to the throne room should be on our left.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. The door is pretty big. We can’t miss it.”

As he said that, I notice in the distance a pair of large red doors that are at least several times larger than a normal door. That must be the throne room. But the door’s opened. This can’t be good…

“FATHER!!”

Luna’s screams caught my attention, the horror in her voice can’t mean anything good. I quickly pick up the pace and dashes through the opened door, just as I witness Desiree ready to stab her blade into the man that can only be the current king and Luna’s father.

“DESIREE, STOP!!”

Vi’s shouts from behind me had me springing into action, my feet quickly turn dragon as well as my tail grew to provide balance as I dash towards her at top speeds. For this distance, I have to strike fast. With that thought in mind, I have my hand on my sheathed sword while my other hand is gripping on the handle tightly. I have to use that form; the fastest form Sen has taught me so far.

“Dragon Sword Style, Fourth Form: Lunging Fang!”

The moment I reached her, I took to a stereotypical Iai stance, twisted my sheathe and performs a quick draw at her. Desiree was able to react and has turned her blade around to block my slash, my blade hitting her weapon with a loud ring. Seeing how her blade vibrated, my attack has hit strong and on point.

“You…!?” She cried out.

“Sorry, no kings are dying today…” I grunted out as I struggle to push my sword forward. The rebel leader let out a murmured curse and undid our little sword lock with a flick of her wrist, I barely managed to stop myself from falling by using my tail to steady myself.

Once I got my bearings, I took to a fighting stance to prepare for any additional attacks.

“R-Rein!? You’re alive!!” Luna cried out in sheer relief.

“Vi!? What is the meaning of this!?” The man holding Luna hostage shouted. From what he just said, he must be Reginold.

“I’m putting a stop to your plans, Reginold.” Vi stated firmly as he unsheathes his sword, “You’re not going to use me, Desiree, or anyone of us anymore.”

“Vi…?” Desiree looked at her brother completely dumbfounded.

“Using you?” Reginold chuckles, “What are you saying? I’m doing this for your sake–”

“Quit it with your lies! I know what you did!” The former rebel accused as he pointed his sword at him, “Ten years ago, it wasn’t the Britt Kingdom that destroyed our town. No, it was you, wasn’t it? You destroyed our town!”

“Huh?”

“Wait, seriously!?”

“He’s the one that…!?”

“Come to think of it… he was very suspicious from the start…”

“That son of a bitch, he has set us up from the beginning!!”

“I can’t believe I’ve trusted him!”

Murmurs spread among the armed Latian soldiers, some of them even agreeing with Vi’s accusation. If this keeps up, we could turn the tables on him! This could be our chance–

“…What nonsense are you saying?” Reginold huffed, “Me? Destroy your town? For what purpose would I do that?”

“Isn’t it obvious!?” Vi shouted, “You wanted to use us to start this coup, to take the crown for yourself!”

“I could’ve easily done that without your help.” He pointed out, “Sure, it’ll take longer, but the crown would’ve been mine anyway. There’s no need for me to fake the attack on your town just to get you guys on my side! In fact, it would be an even bigger hassle to do that! Why should waste my time doing such things?”

“Grk!” I flinched at how good he is at defending himself. With a silver tongue like that, no wonder he has everyone fooled…

“That is true…”

“Why would he need to go so far just to start a coup?”

“Maybe Vi is thinking a little too much into this…”

Oh boy, this just backfired on us… If this situation was any less grave, I would have chuckled at how I’m witnessing what essentially is Ace Attorney: One Piece Edition.

“B-But!” The former rebel stayed firmed, “Isn’t it too much of a coincidence that the Britt Kingdom just so happens to find out about us, bombarded us, and then just leave? And then YOU showed up out of nowhere and just so happened to know all this history and the identity of the ships that attacked us?”

“That’s all it has been. A simple coincidence.” The former advisor chuckles, “Or fate, maybe? It did help us lead to this point. Regardless, what you are suggesting is nothing more than over imaginative daydreams. Why would I have to gain in this whole debacle? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing.”

“Grk!”

“Unless, you have proof of such?”

“I-I…!”

Oh crap, this doesn’t look good! If we can’t prove this to everyone, especially Desiree, then Reginold would have gotten what he wanted from this!

Although, he did have a point.

What did he have to gain from this? The crown is good and all, but that’s not worth the effort to trick an army into doing his bidding… Is there something else in it for him? Some kind of secondary objective to achieve by doing it this way?

“If not, then it’s settled.” Reginold stated, “Vi. I don’t know what that girl has told you for you to have such an imaginative idea, but I’m willing to overlook it. On the condition that you kill this girl right here, right now.”

“Huh!?”

“No! You can’t!!” Luna screamed, only to grunt in pain as her captor put some strength into his grip.

“Luna!!” The king cried out.

“It’s now or never, Vi.” He stated firmly, “Kill her. Now.”

“I… I…” Vi stuttered as he turns to look at me, his eyes betraying his feelings as he reluctantly raises his sword towards me. Damn it, is this it!?

“NOT SO FAST!!”

With that loud entrance, Ace leaps into the throne from adorn in flames. His fist ignites as he cocks his arm back, “Newly named special move! FIRE FIST!!” He then punches forward, blasting a fist-shaped fire towards Reginold who could only stare in shock at the sudden attack.

Luna took his misdirected attention as her chance to escape, and stomps on his foot as hard as she can, which causes him to scream in pain and letting her go as she got out of the way of the attack.

Unfortunately, the attack missed him and hits semi-harmlessly on the carpet. That, to our dismay, started a small fire that is slowly growing.

“Ah! Fire!!” One of the soldiers cried out in a panic as they all rushed to stomp it out.

“Ace, what the hell!?” I screamed at the freckled pirate, who has the gall to look sheepishly at his handiwork.

“…Whoops?”

“Ace! Rein!” Luna cried out as she ran towards us. Huh, she saved herself in the end. Not that I mind. Less work for me to do, and now Reginold has no insurance over what the king could do.

“Hey, princess.” The freckled pirate greeted with a wave, “I’ve saw what you did back there. That was badass, especially for a princess!”

“Hehe, thanks!”

A realization then hits me. “Wait, why are you here?” I asked him, “What about Tok and the pirates?”

“All taken care of.” He laughed, “Also, we may have found out something that might be important.”

“Huh?”

As if on cue, Deuce walked into the throne room dragging with him a heavily bruised Tok. His face is swollen akin to a grape with some of the bruises already turning purple, and he seems to be missing a few teeth as well. Damn, what did Ace put him through? Did he go full JoJo on him? Did I missed him going full JoJo on him!?

“Deuce! You’re okay!” Luna stated happily.

“More than okay.” The masked pirate stated with a grin as he lifts up Tok in front of him, “Go on! Tell them what you’ve told us!”

“I…I won’t sa…say another… wo…word …!” The gear-themed pirate mumbles out with an edge of a trained warrior.

All that façade is then broken when Deuce simply presses the knuckle of his index finger on Tok’s temple and twists, getting a loud scream of pain from him, “Okay! Okay! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

What came out of his mouth more than seals the deal of Reginold intentions, it also revealed something we have no idea about up till now and places even more questions in our mind about the secrets of the Britt Kingdom.

“Reginold claims that there’s hidden secret treasure hidden in the Brittia Castle!”

“What!?” The king shouted in shock, his face pale as a ghost. Is there something we don’t know about?

“And…?” Deuce asked, knuckle already touching his temple. That got the pirate captain to start spouting out more information.

“He promised me a cut if I go along with his plan!”

“And what plan would that be?” I asked.

“…” A crack of a knuckle joint from Ace got him to continue in fear. “I’m to take my crew and bombard a port town to kingdom come wearing a flag from this place!”

That got a gasp from both Vi and Desiree, and a flinch from Reginold. “Tok, you idiot!”

“Hey! When I agreed to help you, you didn’t say I’ll get my ass handed to me by some wet-nosed rookie!!”

“Wait, why go so far to do such a thing?” Luna asked, “There’s no point in tricking them if all he wanted is some treasure.”

“He mentioned that only those of Latian Royalty can enter the place!” Tok confessed, “So he needed those two to get it!”

Only Latian Royalty can enter? Then, this treasure must be left behind from the Latian reign?

“Then…” Desiree looked at Reginold with anger in her eyes, “You lied to me? About everything!?”

“…Tch.” Reginold clicks his tongue, “And it’s all going so well… Guess it goes to show that allying with a pirate is never a good idea.”

“Reginold…!” The king got up from his throne, his eyes glaring at his former advisor, “How could you…!?”

“Then, it’s true then!?” The rebel leader growled, “You’re the one behind the attack!?”

“Guilty as charged.” The former advisor stated with a shrug of his shoulder, “Although to be fair, I didn’t think I’ve managed to pull this off so well. You are such a gullible fool.”

“REGINOLD!!”

With a roar, Desiree charges towards him with her sword ready to end him. Reginold simply smirks before opening his mouth and speak one phrase.

_“May the horns blow.”_

Once those words left his lips, the anger in Desiree’s eyes seem to fade as she slowed down her run until she stood next to him, slouched over and unmoving.

“D-Desiree…?” Vi called out, confused and scared of what just happened.

“What did you do, Reginold!?” Luna shouted.

“Hahaha, oh, the wonders of hypnotism!” Reginold laughed as he explains, “I knew that Tok could, and would, betray me, and I’m no match for someone as youthful and strong as Desiree. As such, I have a certain phrase implanted into her head with the help of sleep hypno-therapy, that went spoken, give me full control over her actions.”

“T-That’s…!” The king of Britt has his eyes wide in horror, “That’s the method once used by the Latian Kingdom as the means to create the ultimate toy soldier! But my father should have all records of it destroyed years ago!”

“It was, but I was able to find out from the source.” He chuckles, “For I, Reginold Steward Hufflepuff, is the son of the noble man who has created it in the first place!”

I have to hold back my laughter at his reveal. Seriously!? His middle and last names are Steward and _Hufflepuff_!? What kind of name is that!?

Unfortunately, Ace didn’t hold himself back and proceeds to howl in laughter, “WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! That’s the stupidest and dumbest name I’ve ever heard!!”

“Grr…” The traitorous man obviously didn’t take this very well with how his veins are bulging at his temple, “Let’s see who’s laughing after I have you all killed. Desiree! Kill them all, starting with that interfering princess!!”

With that command, Desiree robotically stood straight up, readies her sword and dashes right towards Luna with every intention to stab into her.

“NO! LUNA!!” The king shouted in horror.

“Luna, stand back!!” I managed to get in front of the princess in time and raised my transformed arm to intercept the attack, her blade scrapping against my tough scales. This isn’t over, as she starts slashing against me as I struggle to block her attacks with both Nanashi and my scales.

“Desiree! Stop it!!” Vi shouted as she proceeds to land slash after slash, I barely manage to block some of them with a few manages to scape against my scales, “You can’t let that man control you! Fight it!”

“It’s no use!” Reginold laughed, “The hypnotism is deep and unbreakable! Nothing you do will bring her out of it!”

“Damn you!!” Ace shouted angrily, “Come here and fight like a man, you coward!!”

“Wait, what about me!?” Tok cried, “You can’t just leave me here, Reggy!”

“You’ve served your purpose well, Tok.” Reginold stated as he walked up to the king, his sword pointing at him, “But you’re a loose end I can’t allow to keep existing. And also…” He turns his head back and glares at him, “Don’t EVER call me Reggy.”

As he got close to the king, he grabs the older man by the collar and places his blade near his neck, “Now, you’re coming with me. You’re going to lead me to the vault.”

“T-The vault!? S-So you knew!?”

“I’ve only heard rumours, and I also know that only the king knows of its existence and location.” The traitor pointed out with a smirk, “So, what is it going to be?”

“Father!!” Luna cried out.

“Farewell, dear princess!” He stated as he drags the king to behind the throne room where there’s another smaller door, “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to have you and your father have a happy reunion in the afterlife!” And with that last sentence, he closes the door behind him.

“Damn you!! Get back here!!” Deuce shouted.

“Grgk!!” I felt her weapon manages to graze my side, the part of my half-transformed state that is no protected by the scales. Damn it, her strikes aren’t as precise as Vi’s, but they hit way harder. Even with my sword, I’m not sure I’ll be able to last long.

“Sis!!” Vi screamed, “You have wake up!!”

“Everyone, now!!”

“We need to stop her!!”

“Pin her down!!”

“Sorry, Desiree!!”

It is at this moment that a couple of the Latian soldiers took action and grabbed their leader by her limps as they struggle to hold her back. “Run, princess!!” One of them shouted out while the remainder of them crowds in front of us with sabers drawn, “You have to get out of here!”

“Y-You guys!” Vi cried in shock, “What are you doing!?”

“We have to atone for what we did! Every one of us!” The soldier holding her by the neck shouted.

“But if we can at least keep Desiree from making the biggest mistake of all…!” Another that is holding her leg added in, “Then it’s worth risking our lives!!”

“No! Stop!” He cried out, “Get out of there!”

In no time at all, Desiree freed herself from their hold and proceeds to hack and slash them to the ground to our horror. Once they are bleeding out on the carpet unmoving, she robotically turns back to us, her gaze fixed on Luna, who is stunned in horror that the brutality of what just happened.

“No…! They’re all…”

I quickly got back into position and prepared to block her next attack with the rest of the soldiers taking defensive positions around us as well. Desiree first took to a jog, before sprinting right toward us with sword ready to stab right through me. Crap, crap, crap, here she comes! I ready my transformed arm, ready to intercept her attack with my scales.

What I did not expect, to my upmost horror, is for someone to step right in front of us and took the attack.

_**“VI!!!!”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! Finally done this!!! Oh My God, this is one is one heck of a ride, from start to finish! Man, I’m having way too much fun writing this ending, so much that I’ve decided to split the climax into two parts. The second part would be uploaded shortly after, so stay tuned!
> 
> That being said, the latest chapter of One Piece (Chapter 951, if you are wondering) is one heck of the interlude, with all sorts of things gearing up for the finale of the Wano arc. Although, I am curious about King’s race. I thought he was human, or at least sky people if the wings on his back is any indication, but I guess he is some other form of winged species?
> 
> Also, a second clash between Yonko!
> 
> Sky splitting, the sea’s roaring, man I knew they are going to fight, but I didn’t expect to get the same phenomenon as when Shanks clashed against Whitebeard. Guess that’s the thing that happen whenever two Emperor-level pirates fought?


	17. Twilight Isles, Finale

I couldn’t stare in horror at what just occurred, everyone around me is also dead quiet. The scene in front of me isn’t something I wanted to witness at all, especially after what we been through.

“V-VI!!”

Right in front of us, with a sword pierced right through him from the gut, Vi stood firm as he grasps his hypnotised sister’s arms with blood spewing from his wound and forming a growing puddle under him.

“G-Got you…!” He breathlessly chuckles, “I’m not letting…! you go…! this time…!”

“No, Vi! He got shish-kabob-ed!!” One of the soldiers screamed.

“What are you doing, Vi!?” Another of them cried out.

“Quick! We need to get him free!!” One soldiers bravely prepare to run up to them.

“No! S-Stay back!!” Vi shouted at them, stopping the soldier in his tracks, “L-Leave this…! t-to… m-me…!

“The kid’s nuts!” Tok stated in utter shock, “Why would he take the sword through the gut like that!?”

“He cares too much for his sister…” Deuce pointed out, “He’ll do anything for her…! Even if…”

“Yeah, but that’s crazy!” The gear-themed pirate cried out, “Even then, is he really planning to break her out of the hypnotism like that!? That trance should be unbreakable!”

“S-Sis… Please…!” He coughed out, staring into the blank stare of his sibling who is already struggling to get out his grip, “You have to… snap out…! of it…! You can’t… let that man… control you…! Please, Desiree…! Please…! I can’t… afford to lose you… like this…!”

“…Vi…?”

“D-Desiree…!?”

“W-What!? That’s impossible!!” Tok cried in shock, “Reggy’s hypnotism should be unbreakable!”

“Their bonds…” Ace muttered, “Her connections to Vi manages to overpower Reginold’s control!”

“Vi? What’s going on? Why–!” Her eyes widen in shock as she realised something, “Why… are you…?”

“Hehe… damn it… you took so long to… wake up…” He coughed out, “But I’m glad… to have… you… back…”

With those last words, he collapsed onto the ground in front of her, blood continues to spill out of his wound.

“V-Vi!?” She screamed as she kneeled next to him, looking at the familiar sword in his gut in horror, “Did… did I did this…!?” Without must hesitation, she pulls the sword out of him, took off her vest and pressed it against his wound as hard as she could, “D-Damn it! It’s not stopping!!”

We could only look on in both horror and pity as the sister desperately tries to save her dying brother. This isn’t right… this isn’t how it supposed to go, damn it!!

Then, Luna runs up to them, kneeling next to the brother before doing something I didn’t think she would do. She proceeds to rip into her skirt, pulling out ribbons of cloth which she then uses to dress the wound as best as she can.

“P-Princess?” Desiree is stunned silent at what is happening.

After witnessing her actions, I affirm myself and ran up to them as well. I took off my jacket and uses it with Luna’s pieces of cloth to create a makeshift band-aid, not that it will do much with how severe the gut wound is. If we can’t get treatment for it soon, Vi could still die.

It was then that sounds of heavy footsteps can be heard coming from the outside. I then saw Britt soldiers rushing into the room, armed to the teeth with muskets and sabres ready to be drawn, “Your highness!!” The leader of this platoon called out, a man of great physiology and posing one heck of a moustache that puts the Armstrong stache to shame.

Like, damn! That is as masculine as any man can get!

“General Strongbody.” Luna greeted, as I struggle to keep my laughter in check. Really!? His name is _Strongbody_!?

“I’m sorry for taking so long!” He saluted her, “We’ve just manages to capture the last of the rebels around the castle!” He then turns to the Latian soldiers and their leaders, “Are these the last ones?”

“D-Damn it…” Desiree cursed as she grabbed her sword. All the Britt soldiers quickly went for their sword and firearms in response.

“Weapons down!!”

The soldiers could only look at each other confusion over their princess’s orders.

“There will be no fighting here.” Luna stated firmly, “We have a heavily injured casualty in need of immediate medical care. Get him to the doctors right now!”

“B-But your highness, aren’t he part of the rebels?” The general asked confused, “Why are we helping out those terrorists? They are the reason the castle is in such a disarray!”

“Even so!” The princess glares at Strongbody, who flinches under it, “They are still people that needed help! I would not have someone die if I can do anything to save him!”

“B-But–”

“But nothing, general!” She shouted, “When my grandfather founded this kingdom, he made it clear that we would not be as the very enemies we’ve fought! If there’s someone in need of saving, whether or not they are once our greatest enemies _doesn’t matter_!”

“…you’re right. You’re absolutely right.” The general nodded with a firm salute, “Your orders are received, Princess Luna! Men! Escort the injured to the medical bay! And have the doctors prepared for surgery!”

“Sir, yes, sir!!”

With that, the soldiers all rush towards the injured, with one of them gently carries Vi to not worsen the wound any further. I could only look in awe at the speed the soldiers performed their medical assistance. Talk about efficient!

“…Why…?”

Luna turns to Desiree who could only look at her with stunned confusion, “We’ve hurt your people… we have caused so much destruction… so why are you helping us!? Don’t you hate us!?”

“…I would be lying if I say I didn’t.” The princess stated, “But even so, you were used by Reginold like the rest of us. Not only that, you’ve lost your family due to him as well.”

“So, you pity us then…?” The rebel leader growled.

“No, not pity.” She stated, “Just… empathy. My grandfather has taught me that people would sometimes do bad things for bad reasons. But that doesn’t mean they deserve the worst of fates. An eye for an eye would turn the whole world blind, you know?”

“Eye… for an eye…” Desiree chuckles, before blowing up into laughter, then slowly descends into sobs as she hugs herself, “Damn it… why didn’t I…?”

I found myself a third wheel of this situation, unsure of what to do next. This is really awkward for me… I’m technically an outsider in this whole debacle, so I’m not sure where I’m fitting in.

“*Sniff* Oh, this is so touching…!”

The awkwardness is replaced my irritation when our captive pirate captain starts opening his damn mouth.

“Ace, can you–”

*WHACK*

“BUARGH!”

“Thank you!”

“Not to spoil the mood, but we still have to deal with Reginold.” Deuce point out, “He still have the king.”

“Ah! That’s right!” I realised. Due to the situation with Desiree and Vi nearly dying, I’ve completely forgotten about that crucial fact. Damn it! That bastard has to be a long gone by now! And we don’t even know where this ‘vault’ thing he is looking for.

“Vault…”

Luna’s musing got our attention, the princess seems to be deep in thought, “Vault… I think I remember seeing a vault somewhere before…”

“Really!? Where!?” Ace asked.

“Hm…” She thinks for a moment, before snapping her fingers in realization, “Ah! The tomb!”

“Tomb?”

“Yes! My grandfather has built a tomb under the castle where his late companions are put to rest! I remember him bringing me down there when I was younger! There’s a large door close to it, one that he has told me that it shouldn’t be opened at all cost!”

“And do you know where this tomb is?” I asked.

“I think I do!” She nodded.

“That’s great! You think you could you lead us to it!?”

“Yes, I can!”

“I’ll stay behind.” Deuce informed us, “It’s not much, but I should be able to help out some of injured.”

“Got it.” Ace nodded, “I’ll punch Reginold once for you.” His first mate gave him a nod in response.

The three of us then book it to the exit, but I stopped when I saw a familiar weapon on the ground. Vi’s sword is lying on the ground with blood staining its handle and the underside of the hilt. He must have dropped it when he collapsed…

“…”

“Hey, Rein! Hurry up! He’ll get away if you don’t move!!”

“Ah! R-Right!”

* * *

 

The traitorous Reginold grimaced as a drip of water from the stalactites above him.

After leaving the throne room with his hostage, he has his ‘king’ lead him towards the vault that he has heard so much about. His blade is still drawn and placed at Solaria’s neck, making sure the old man doesn’t get any funny ideas. ‘Just a little more. Once I’ve got the treasure, I’m going to be richest man in the East Blue! Then, I can finally ditch this place and live out the rest of my life in luxury!’

‘And all thanks to my dear old dad’s little scheming plans…’

His father, one Ronald Steward Hufflepuff, was once a noble among the royal court of the Latian Kingdom. He was in-charged of the R&D department in the military, tasked with creating weapons of war against their uprising commoners, in where he was raised in status with the founding of hypnotising soldiers to be loyal and unfeeling killing machines.

Ronald, however, is a very greedy individual. Through connections with the underworld and having a great sense in human trafficking trade, he has accumulated wealth that far outshines any other nobles of his time. So much that every noble in the royal court with exception to the royal family sucked up to him in hopes of getting even a tiny fraction of his fortune.

But despite acquiring such immense wealth, he still wanted more. He is so addicted to money and luxury, that he would do anything to get more. Which is when he found out about a secret ‘vault’ under the royal castle, where the fortune inside is worth at least several hundred of his own.

Being the greedy nobleman that he is, he schemed to find this vault and secured the fortune for himself, going as far as to kidnapped several individuals connected to the royal family and torturing them for information. Despite his best efforts, he could only confirm its existence but never its location.

And then, the rebellion won the war and secured the disbandment of the Latian Kingdom, paving the way to the founding of their own kingdom, the Kingdom of Britt.

Like many nobles that refused to accept their new rulers, he too was banished from the island and forced to live the remainder of his life as a ‘filthy commoner’. Ronald couldn’t even stand to live such a modest life, choosing to remain living out his luxurious life. In the end, he ends up bankrupt and is driven into a life of poverty, and ended up dead on the road somewhere.

Reginold was then born from one of his many sex slaves that were set freed after the war is over. His mother, however, was too broken after years of tortured and committed suicide soon after he was born, leaving him an orphan at the young age of three.

Since at the such a young age, Reginold possess the same greedy personality as his late father. As he grew up, he became more and more obsessed with the idea of acquiring so much money that he would never has to worry about being poor again.

Through his silver tongue that he has honed to perfection, he performed cons after cons, scamming people of their money and building his fortune step by step. He gotten so good, that a woman he conned into giving him her life savings still doesn’t believe that she got scammed at all.

And then, when he too found out about his father’s plans in the ruins of his old mansion, he plotted to take the fortune for himself as well.

“We’re here.”

His former employer told him as they exited the cave, and into a large rocky room with eight coffins lied down with armoured knights carved into their lid. For some reason, there’s a large hole in the ceiling that let the sunlight shines in, illuminating the entire room. Grass filled the ground with a few flowers are planted around the coffins, their beautiful petals blooming under the bright afternoon sun.

“The royal… tomb…?” He turns to his hostage with anger in his eyes, “I said to bring me to the vault!! Not to the resting place of some dead people!!”

“You did, so I did.” Solaria looked at him before pointing at another entrance on the other end of the room, “Through there is where you’ll find the vault.”

“Tch, then said so!” The traitorous man huffed in anger as he pushes his hostage along.

After passing through another cave, they came face to face with the very thing that Reginold truly desired.

In the large rock room, illuminated by the sunlight coming in from a small gap in the ceiling, there is a large gate carved out of rock locked into the stone wall, covered in moss and several artistic carvings of sorts. The wall it is in is covered from top to bottom with strange symbols carved into the stone.

“This… this is it…!” He laughed as he tosses his hostage and weapon aside and rushes towards the door with a maniac look on his face. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!! After so long, I’ve finally found it! The treasure, oh, the fortune! I can almost smell it behind this gate!”

His maniac smile dropped when he saw no way of opening the gate. No keyhole, no lever, no nothing. He then turns to the king and asked, “How do you open this!?”

“Who knows?”

“What do you mean by that!?”

Solaria got into a more comfortable sitting position, “When dad shown me this, all he told me about it is that this gate should never be opened at all cost. He never said anything about how this can be opened.”

Reginold let out a growl as he searched the wall frantically for a way in. ‘There has to be something here! A switch? A hidden mechanism?’

Unbeknownst to him, Solaria has got back on his feet, picked up his captor’s weapon and is slowly sneaking towards him with sword raised to kill. Once he got close enough, he took a deep breath and slashes down at his former advisor with the intention of beheading him right then and there.

Unfortunately, Reginold has noticed his attack and duck down the arcing attack, swinging out foot out and tripping the king. Solaria dropped onto the ground on his back with a loud thud, which his captor took advantage of and stomps onto the king’s peg leg, smashing it into pieces.

“D-Damn…”

“Do you really think I wouldn’t notice?” He asked as he kick away the broken peg leg, “Wood on stone is pretty distinct.”

“You wouldn’t get away from this!” Solaria shouted at him, “Even if you did get the treasure behind the vault, everyone knows about your betrayer by now! You could never escape!”

“Oh, but you’re forgetting my little gift to your daughter.” Reginold stated with a smile as he walked over and pick up his sword, “Desiree would kill everyone in that room, and then if anyone enters that room, they would die too. No one would ever know what I’ve done.”

“You bastard…! Are you that obsessed with treasure!?”

“Yes, I am!” He proclaims proudly, “For you see, money is power, and power is strength, and strength is life! Money is the one truth in this world! Everything runs on money, and with enough money, I’ll be able to run everything!”

“There’s no way I’m giving the Britt Kingdom to you!”

“Oh, you misunderstand!” He tells his former king, “I have no desire to rule over anything! All I want is to have so much money that I’ll be living the luxurious life that I want for the rest of my days. So much money that I wouldn’t need to work for a day! That is all.”

“And achieve that, you’re willing to destroy an entire town, to manipulate innocents to committing treachery!? All for getting rich!?”

“I wouldn’t call it manipulating.” He stated, “It’s more like… persuasion.”

“You traitorous bastard!” Solaria growled, “I can’t believe I’ve ever trusted you!!”

“…You know what.” He walks up to the king and steps on his gut, his sword aimed at his throat, “Now that you have no more information for me, I’ve no more use for you. No point in leaving behind a loose end.”

“You’ll never get away from this…!” The king growls, still ever defiant despite his position.

“You know, if there’s one thing I’ve respected about you, it’s your tenacity.” Reginold confessed, “A shame, really. I’ve a feeling we could’ve been friends if the circumstances are different. Oh well. Say hello to the princess for me!” He raises his sword, prepares to pierce the windpipe–

“FIRE FIST!”

* * *

 

The moment we enter the second room after the tomb, which looks gorgeous by the way, we are met with the sight of the traitor ready to plunge his sword into the king’s throat.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ace charges in and fires a Fire Fist at him. Reginold unfortunately dodges it, the flame blasting against the enormous stone gate on the opposite end of the room.

“Damn it, stop dodging!!” The freckled pirate shouted at him.

“How!?” The traitor shouted at us, “How are you still alive!? Desiree should have killed you all!”

“She broke out of your control, Reggy.” I stated with what I felt like the most savage grin I’ve ever did in my entire life, “With a little help from the power of bonds.”

“T-That’s impossible!!” He stated in horror, “My father made it so that the hypnotism is unbreakable!!”

“Everything is possible with the power of love!” I proclaimed happily, revelling in the cheesiness of my words. Hey, if there’s a time for cheese, it’s here.

“It’s all over, Reginold!” Luna shouted, “You’ve lost! There’s nowhere else to run!”

“No, no, no…!” He mutters in shock, “Not when I’m so close…!” He seems to get an idea and went to grab the king, lifting him up into a chokehold and raised his blade up to his neck, “No body move! Unless you want a headless man as your king!”

“Father!”

“You damn coward!!” Ace shouted angrily, “Let him go!”

“Nah-ah!” Reginold smirks as he places the sword very close to the king’s neck, “Not until I get what I want! Now, princess… tell me how to open the vault!”

“Huh?” Luna could only blink at the sudden question.

“You’re wasting your breath, Reginold.” The king tells him, “Not even Luna know how to open the gate.”

“Shut up!” The traitor shouted as he knocks his sword’s pommel against his hostage’s head, getting grunt of pain in response.

“Father! Let him go, Reginold!” The princess commanded angrily.

“Then tell me! How do you open the vault!?”

“Like I said…” The king groans as blood starts dripping from the head wound that he has just gotten, “She doesn’t know…!”

“And I told you to shut up–”

“I know how!!”

Everyone is stunned silent at her sudden proclamation, her father especially looked extremely shocked. “Luna…? How do you…?”

“T-Tell me!!” Reginold suddenly shouted, “How do we open it!?”

“Okay first, you have to… um… let me think…” She posed to be deep in thought, slowly turns her head towards Ace for a moment, before turning to me and her eyes just that gestured forward to my confusion. Huh? Why is she…? I then looked at Ace, who gave me the same expression with a grin. Why is he–Oh. Oooh~! I get it…!

“Come on, hurry up!” The traitor shouted with irritation heavy in his tone.

“Let me try to remember… I think it has something to do with–NOW!”

With that command, my sword is drawn and my feet transformed into their dragon state, just as Ace fires a smaller version of his Fire Fist right at Reginold. The traitor saw this and quickly moved one side to avoid the fire attack, which means it’s my turn to act.

With my dragon speed, I made it across the room within a single moment with my sword poised for a thrust while my other hand is behind my back in a typical fencing stance. With this, I unleashed my attack aimed right at his head.

“Dragon Sword Style, Third Form: Tail Spike!”

I stabs forward Nanashi like a fencing sword, adding a little curve due to the fact that I’m wielding a katana. My blade flew and strikes towards Reginold’s head like a bladed dragon’s tail. He is quick enough manoeuvre his sword and direct my attack off course with his hilt, causing my attack to miss completely.

Just as a smirk crept up his face from his assured victory over my attack, I pull out my hidden trump card from behind me.

Before he can react, I plunge Vi’s gladius, which I’ve picked up from the throne room before coming here and has been hidden in my sash this whole time, into his shoulder blade as deep as I can get it in.

This elicit a loud scream from him as he is forced to let go of the king, which I took advantage and uses my tail to wrap around abdomen. I then pull out Vi’s sword before retreating back to Luna with her father in tow, just as Ace came in with the finishing blow, as he proceeds to send a non-flaming fist to his face that sent him flying.

“You are quite the bluff master aren’t you, Luna?” I stated as I put the king down on the ground gently.

“I’m just glad you managed to get my message.” Luna stated with a sigh as she looked over her father, “Are you okay, father?”

“Y-Yeah… I’m fine…” The king assures the princess, before looking at Reginold unmoving body, “Is he…?”

“Nah, he’s alive, I think.” Ace stated, “I pulled my punch at the last minute.”

“Why didn’t you just use your Fire Fist?” I asked him.

“Punching the guy with my bare-fist is much more fun.” His answer just got a face-palm from me, especially when he said that with such a straight face.

“Then… it’s over?” Luna asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded at her question, “It’s finally over.”

That got a huge sigh from the princes as she collapsed like a puppet who got its strings cut, falling onto her father’s lap, “Finally…”

“You’ve worked hard, Luna.” The king assures her, “I’m sorry I have to put you through all of this.”

“No, it’s fine.” She tells him, “As the crown princess, it’s my duty to fight for my kingdom, no matter the odds.”

“…True, so very true.” He nodded with a smile, “I’m just glad you are okay.”

“But still…” Ace walked up to the large stone gate in front of us, “He did all that nonsense all for this? Kind of a wasted effort, if you ask me.”

“Just out of curiosity…” I turned to the two royalty in front of me, “Is it possible to open this gate in the first place?”

“Well, grandfather said that this gate mustn’t be opened at all cost.” Luna stated, “So there must have been a way to open it. Sadly, he never told anyone before he passes.”

“It’s the same with me.” The king nodded, “It just made me curious of why this vault shouldn’t be opened at all. Not that I’ll open it at all.”

“…Hey! Come look at this!”

Ace suddenly calling out to us got us curious about what he found. We then slowly made our way to him, I having to support the king in my half-dragon form due to his broken peg leg. When we made it to the stone wall, the freckled pirate proceeds to wipe away at some of the moss on the wall to reveal something curious and strangely familiar on the wall.

“Well, this is peculiar…” The king noted, “Never saw that before.”

“It looks like a keyhole.” Luna stated, “And this slight indent… it kind of looks like a–”

“Clover.” I concluded. I looked down at Vi’s sword, turning the weapon so that I can view it from the front. Comparing it to the keyhole we found, I made an astonishing discovery.

“It’s the same shape…! The gap is the size as the blade too!”

“Whoa, seriously!?” Ace cried, “Then, that sword is the key!?”

“Huh, that’s quite an interesting set up.” The king noted, “No one would expect a weapon to be a key.”

“But is it really?” I wonders, “It could be just a coincidence that it’s the same shape.”

“No, wait…” Luna thinks for a moment, “I think I’ve read somewhere that all Latian royalty has two types of weapon. A longsword like the one the leader has, and a short sword like the one you’re holding.”

“Is it the same as this sword?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I believe so.”

“Only one way to find out.” Ace stated pointing at the keyhole, “Thrust it in, Rein!”

“That sounds… so wrong…” I muttered in embarrassment at the hidden sexual joke, before doing exactly that. The moment the sword is all the way in, there’s a small click sound, before the sound of what seems to be gears turning can be heard.

The ground starts to the shake as the large stone gate slowly slides open in front of our eyes.

“No way…” The freckled pirate stares in awe, “It’s actually opening…!”

“Is this a good thing… or a bad thing…?” I wondered out loud. We were told not to open it, after all. And yet here we are, opening the damn thing.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” The king assures us, “As long as none of you mention any of this to anyone else outside. If you do… there will be _consequences_ , understand?”

“Y-Yes, sir!” I answered with a salute out of habit.

“Sure, no problem.” Ace shrugged, “But if there’s treasure in there… do you think you can let me take some? Just a little pinch–”

“KYAH!”

“Luna!?”

We all turned around, to see Reginold holding Luna in a chokehold with his blade near her neck in a repeat of what has happened to her father.

“Damn it, I thought I’ve knock you out!” Ace growled.

“No one move!!” Reginold growled at us, “The treasure in there is mine, you hear!? MINE!”

“Let her go, Reginold!!” The king shouted at him.

“Not until I get my treasure!” He shouted angrily, “Unless you want your daughter to be a headless princess, I suggest you back away from the vault and give… me the… trea…sure…”

I raised my eyebrow in confusion over why he suddenly trailed off. I then turned around to follow his sight and saw what he has saw.

Instead of mountains of shiny treasure that was promised, inside the vault is filled with rows and rows of bookshelves, each one packed to the brim with books of various colour.

“Books?” Ace wonders as he walked up to one of the shelves and pull a book off of it. Flipping through the pages, his eyebrow raised in confusion, “What the…? These books have doodles on them.”

“Doodles?” I walked up to him as he hands me the book. I skimmed through the pages and realised to both my awe and horror over what was written in the book.

While I can’t understand it, there’s no mistaking the text of the Poneglyphs. Any true One Piece fan could recognised the writings with a glance. This both intrigued me and confused me, ‘Why are there books written in the same language as the large indestructible stones that contains information about the Void Century? And why are they doing on an island in the East Blue of all places…? Unless…’

“Books…?” Reginold mutters out, letting go of Luna who quickly moved away from him, “All of that planning… all those years of waiting… for some BOOKS!?”

“It would seem to be the case, yeah.” Ace nodded.

“Hehe…hehehe….hehaha…hahaha…” The small chuckles spill from his lips which escalated into full blown laughter. Soon afterwards, he stopped laughing and collapsed onto the ground, truly unconscious this time if his eyes rolled back into his head is any indication.

“…so, NOW, it’s over?” Luna asked worriedly.

“…Yeah, I guess so.” I nodded.

There’re still many questions I have about the vault, about the books and what connection it might have to the Void Century. But for now, I guess it can wait.

Man, I need a nap…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup! Finally done! Arc is finally over! Man, this has been one heck of wild ride, and I’m grateful for the people who stick by me all the way through.
> 
> So, yes! Hidden vault and mysterious books!! What could all of this mean? Why did Luna grandfather want it to be sealed? What are those books? All those questions will be answered soon!
> 
> With this, the Twilight Isles Arc has officially reached its climax. So next up, is the epilogue!


	18. Twilight Isles, Epilogue

Sen lets out a loud yawn as he watches the waves passes by.

The Silver Fang has done its business with the Goa Kingdom and is on its way back to the Twilight Isles to pick up one of their companions. Thankfully, the exchange with the nobles went pretty smoothly, if a bit rushed with how impatient the people greeting them were, allowing them to made it in time.

“I wonder how Rein is doing…”

The secret semi-immortal dragon thought about his student, one that he hasn’t have in several centuries. After how disastrous the last one turned out, he wasn’t too keen of teaching anyone anymore. The guilt is too much for his long life, one that he felt has been too long for his liking.

There are times that he cursed his own long life, on how long he would be around in the world while those that he befriends and form bonds with slowly aged before death inevitably took them. Even some of the few Giants friends he once had ended up living very short lives with how their lives revolves around glory and honour in battle.

Then Rein came along, and brought along her one heck of a baggage, in both figuratively and literally.

In his terrifyingly long life, this is the first time he has ever met someone who was reincarnated, and he has been on the Grand Line for several centuries at a time! Not only that, she possessed knowledge of future events, information that if leaked out, will attract attention from the Five Elder Stars; or as he likes to call them: The Five Douchebags.

If they ever find out about this, then her life would be in jeopardy. Especially if they know that she is in possession of one of the most powerful Mythical Zoans of all.

The Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model White.

Among the Zoans, the Dragon themed ones are often labelled under Ancient Zoans for some reason he could never understand; although he did theorize that it has something to do with how some dinosaurs resembles dragons in some shape of form. However, those labelled under Mythical Zoans? Those are a whole new can of worms.

Those Dragon-themed Devil Fruits are said to possess unparallel brute strength in the ENTIRE Devil Fruit catalogue, with exceptions to a couple Paramecia.

Each model all shared one key element: the physical abilities of the dragons of legend. Incredible strength, strong jaws, powerful wings, tough scales as hard as diamond in some cases, superior senses, all of it. No other Zoans can compared in that department with very few exceptions.

Some can be comparable to his own race, and he has known of some which can shatter _islands_ if they really wanted to.

However, what truly terrifying powerful about them isn’t their physical prowess. It is their _mystical_ abilities.

Not much is known about all the mythical dragon Zoans, but what is known to all is that they all have abilities associated with their respective models. As an example, the dragon Devil Fruit the Emperor Kaido is using is based off the dragons of Wano’s old myths and legends, as such he has similar powers as well; which includes creating thunder clouds among many others.

For Rein’s model, Sen believed that she may have hit one of the jackpots in terms of mythical Zoans.

If what he has read is to be true, along with dragon-like strength and stamina, the white dragon Devil Fruit is capable of various elemental breath attacks including fire and in some occasions metal for some reason, its senses are sharper than any other, and its scales are practically impenetrable with exceptions to Sea Stone.

But what’s most impressive is its adaptability.

The white dragon mythical Zoan is well known for changing its abilities to match up with the environment it is in. If it’s in the desert, its scales will be thin and weaker, but its fire breath would be insanely powerful. If it’s in the snowy mountains, it would grow fur and gain the ability to generate blizzards with its breath.

If anything, this is one Devil Fruit catered SPECIFICALLY for the Grand Line’s insane weather and climate.

Which makes it very valuable for the Five Douchebags.

If they catch wind of this, they would stop at nothing to capture her and extract the DF from her by any means necessary. They might activate Buster Call if they need to.

With Rein as she is now, she wouldn’t be able to harness her fruit’s power to its upmost limit, which leaves her powerless against the World Government’s forces if they ever made a move against her.

Of course, he hasn’t told her any of this. She would react rather badly to such information, and would put unnecessary burden on her that would distract her from training. That’s what he believes anyway.

“Worried about her, Sen?”

His captain’s question picked him out of his musing, Silvia walking up to him and leans on the wooden railing, “You’re not the only one. I just saw Gord beginning another stress cooking session. We might have to prepare for another potato party tonight.”

“And so many croquettes… so many…” He dejectedly muttered under his breath, “And you?”

“Oh, definitely.” She chuckles, “It’s funny. She has only been part of the crew for no more than a month, and now we can’t be without her.”

“It’s definitely different without her around.” Sen nodded.

“I’ll say. It’s like the Silver Fang isn’t the Silver Fang without her around.” She nodded, “She became an irreplaceable part of the crew now.”

“She definitely has…” He smiled.

“Twilight Isles, dead ahead!!”

The crow’s nest’s call got everyone attention as the crew members all run about to prepare the Silver Fang for landing. Sen took a moment to look over the horizon towards their destination, pondering if his student and his old friend’s granddaughter manages to succeed in their little mission.

His thoughts about it were put to a halt when he saw a familiar white and blue ship docked in the harbour, the ever-noticeable white flag showing its symbol to the world with pride.

‘Huh. I wonder why the Marines are here?’

* * *

 

It has been a few days since the failed coup. And a lot of things has occurred during that time.

After rounding up all the rebels, Reginold is found guilty of all his crimes and sentenced to the dungeon where he waits for the Marines are to come and transported to a proper prison, along with Tok and the rest of their pirate accomplices. From what Luna had told me, they might be looking at a life imprisonment or worse.

Vi manages to pull through, his condition finally stable and on the way to a full recovery. He was really lucky with how quickly they are able to perform the surgery, not to mention that Desiree manages to miss most of his vital organs in that stab.

The Latian soldiers are sentenced to the dungeon too, but are given a lighter sentence of free hard labour at Irenia as part of the next expedition happening next month, as both an attempt to expand Flut Village further inland as well as to help study the wildlife of the island better. In the king’s words, their five years on the island are too valuable to waste rotting in a cell.

Desiree, on the other hand, got the short end of the stick.

For leading a coup, despite being tricked to doing so, and attempting assassination of the crown, she is unfortunately sentenced to the same thing as her deceiver and will be awaiting transport to prison as well, possibly Impel Down if what Luna has told me is to be believed. Vi would have suffered the same fate if weren’t for his attempt to stop his sister and selfless act of protecting the princess that got him off the hook.

He… didn’t take that news too well…

* * *

 

“This isn’t right! I don’t deserve any of this!”

Vi’s voice echoed around the throne room where he kneels in front of the Britt’s monarch and crown princess, prostrating himself as he cries out his pleas. “Please, give me the same sentence as Desiree, as all of them! I’m just as much fault as they are! I don’t deserve any less!!”

Luna sat next to her father with a slight resigned look on her as she turned to the king, who rubbed his forehead in both empathy and slight irritation.

“That is true.” Solaria agreed, but added on, “But in light of your actions you have taken, I deem it fair that you would receive a lesser sentence.”

“B-But I’m the one who’s at fault!!” He cried out, “If I didn’t try harder to stop my sister, this coup would have never occurred in the first place!! All of it due to my inaction, so I should share the burden!!”

“Vi.” Luna’s voice got Vi’s attention, she staring firmly at him with a poise suited for someone of her standing, “Verdict has been chopped and signed. No amount of begging isn’t going to change it. You need accept that.”

“I… but it’s not fair!” He shouted angrily, “Why is Desiree getting all the punishment and not me!? She doesn’t deserve it!!”

“…If you must know…” Solaria says to the prostrating man in front of him, “It was thanks to your sister that your sentence is lifted in the first place.”

“D-Desiree…?”

“She pleaded with me to let you go, that she should be the one to take all the punishment.” He stated, “That you do not deserve to spend the rest of your life rotting in a prison for a crime that she started. If weren’t for her words and Luna here, you would have the same sentence as her.”

“Desiree…” He muttered, gritting his teeth in frustration, “Why…? Why do you have to do that…?”

* * *

 

From what I’ve heard, Vi has left Brittia with Desiree’s sword and is last seen heading towards Port Royalise. No other news about him has come since.

For the rest of us, Ace and Deuce somehow managed to rebuild the Strider and decided to take their leave from the island. As the good friend that I am, I decided to see them off.

* * *

 

“I’m surprised you managed to rebuild that thing from scratch.” I pointed out as I watch the two pirates load up their supplies on a separate boat connecting to the Strider by rope. We are currently at the stony docks at the exit/entrance of the secret tunnel that had led into the castle. The king has orders for it to be sealed off soon, and they took this chance to make a getaway from here as to not arose any suspicion.

“We’ve built it on a deserted island with just some trees and rocks.” Deuce points out, “Now with proper tools and material? It’s a cakewalk. Not to mention that the wood they have are quite high quality.”

“I hope it is sturdier than the last one…” Ace pointed out with a small chuckle.

“But are you sure you guys can’t stay?” I asked them, “I mean, they have come up with the whole ceremony for us and you’re just going to bail like that?”

“I’m sure you understand, Rein. We are PIRATES.” The freckled pirate points out, “And pirates don’t get ceremonies from kings and princesses. It just ruined the point of being a pirate!”

“There is a feast afterwards, you know.”

That line got Ace’s attention, I can hear him swallowing his drool at the prospect of eating that much food before shaking his head, “Nope! Not going to work on me! I’m not Luffy, damn it!”

Huh, I guess being a glutton isn’t just a Monkey family’s trait. Then again, he is raised by Garp of all people…

“Just give it up, Rein.” Deuce tells me, “We’re leaving, and that’s final. Besides, what if we get our bounties and people recognised us, wouldn’t that get Luna and her father in trouble?”

“Hm, I have never thought of it like that before…”

In the end, they finally managed to get all their supplies on board and has board the yellow banana boat in preparation to leave. “Well, that’s all of it.” Ace noted as he claps the dust off his hands, “Deuce, you got the map ready?”

“Yup. And this time, I’ve learned some basic map reading skills.” He stated with pride, “No way we’re getting lost this time!”

I would say that is raising the flag for them eventually getting lost again, but who am I judge?

“So, this is farewell.” I stated, “For real, this time.”

“Yup, I’m afraid so.” Ace nodded with a grin, “A pirate’s home is in the open seas, after all.”

“Ha. I guess that’s right.” I chuckles, raising my hand up to him, “It has been quite an adventure with you, Portgas D. Ace. May you have safe travels.”

“Same here, Rein.” He grasps my hand in a tight grip.

With those last words, the Strider came to life and jettisons them away from the island into the sunset. As I watch them leave, I could only think of the future that would be ahead of him. His struggles, his triumphs, his new bonds, and his eventual downfall and death.

Portagas D. Ace is fated to die within at least two years. That much is certain.

Even so, this journey of his is going to change a lot of things, and set in motion a lot of plans down the line. And honestly, even if I could theoretically find a way to change his future, I don’t think I ever want to.

This is his journey, after all. I have no right to be interfering with it.

* * *

 

Luna didn’t really take them leaving that well, but she accepts it either way.

As for me?

Well, before we captured and escorted Reginold out of the tomb, I managed to nick a book from the ‘vault’ before the king sealed it up for good. While I do not know how to read it, I’m hoping that Sen would be able to and probably help translate it for me. That, or he’ll find a way to destroy that vault. Either one is possible.

I’ve also been in the castle’s library digging up on both Britt’s and Latian history to try to find an answer for the vault’s existence.

There has to be a reason for that vault, of why a library filled books and tomes of the Poneglyph’s writings is hidden under the castle, and why is there a library of secret and forbidden tomes in the first place.

So far, I’ve only uncovered a few trivial facts, like how the castle has been standing here for almost thousand years, and has been rebuilt over and over again over the centuries by the kings of Latian who has been ruling the island for just as long. Or that there are clues indicating another thing hidden on Irenia too. Nothing too concrete to explain why a vault is needed at all.

Of course, it could be related to Crocus’s theory of the World Government’s plans to eradicate every proof of their defeated ‘enemy’ from history all together, and that the library is basically another form of the Poneglyph given form as a giant hidden library. Still doesn’t explain why there’s a need for a giant library in the first place.

Regardless, the mystery of the vault remained unsolved even as I am getting prepared for an awarding ceremony for my involvement in stopping the coup, which was originally also included Ace and Deuce, but they already left before they could do so.

Which brings us to today, in the early afternoon, with me being forced to wear a certain attire that I really didn’t want to.

“Argh! It’s so hard to move in this!! Why do ladies even want to wear these? They are just too stuffy to be practical!”

“It’s a formal attire, Rein. Practicality isn’t what it is made for.” Luna tells me with a huff, “And you can’t wear your usual outfit in the ceremony. It just sticks out too badly!”

“B-But I can’t even walk right in this!” I stated with a groan, feeling my thighs starting to feel sore.

The accursed attire that I’m referring to is the long formal dress that Luna has forced me into. A long red fluffy Victorian-styled dress with short sleeves, made of high-quality cloth that drapes down past my knees with white fluffy lace along edges of the sleeves and collar. Under it, I wore a dark pantyhose to my absolute dismay and matching red high-heels.

My hair is tied up in a small bundle on the back of my head and fixed in place by a golden ornament that has a red flower, my arms are in white cloth gloves that reaches up to my elbows with a similar flowery ornament tied around my wrist to complete the look.

All in all, I look like a goddamn noble lady, and I hate every single second I’m in it. Heck, she even put makeup on me. MAKEUP!! The thing just feels weird on my face!!

“Come now. It’s only until after the ceremony.” Luna assures me. “It’ll be over soon, so keep it up!”

She too is in different outfit, a similar Victorian dress like mine but in sky blue and strapless shows off her shoulder and collarbone while also emphasizing her incredible cleavage that are tucked into a bluish-green corset. Under the dress, she wears a pair of white stockings and matching light blue high-heels.

Her pink hair is not in a braid today, instead it is let down with a beautiful silver tiara on her head. Her hands too are in similar white gloves like mine and possess a golden bangle on her wrist. And completing the look is a shiny necklace that has a moon-shaped pendant around her neck.

“That easy for you to say…” I muttered, “You probably wore that all the time.”

“Not really. This one is only for those special occasions, like this ceremony.”

The door to the dressing room opened with one of the Britt soldiers saluting, “Ma’am, the ceremony is about to begin. Are you ready?”

“Yup! We’re ready!” Luna tells him before turning to me, “Come on. We can’t keep the masses waiting.”

“Hah… Fine…”

* * *

 

I find myself standing in front of the familiar large door to the throne room, Luna standing next to me with the same soldier from before in attention behind us.

“Well, this is it…” I muttered anxiously.

“You’ll do fine.” She assures me with a smile.

I nodded at that, as the large door is opened with some grandiose manner in time for us to walk in. Hands together and posed in front of me, back straight and head held high… let’s hope I can keep this up as long as I can.

“–to welcome our heroes; my darling daughter Luna, and her companion-in-arms, Rein of the East Traders’s Silver Fang!!”

I was greeted to a large applause, with two rows of people in aristocrat-looking outfits that screams nobility and wealth with a few journalists mixed in taking pictures with their Visual Den Den Mushi. Aligned along the large carpet I am walking on are the Britt soldiers in full uniform and still like statues with their hands behind their back.

I felt my nerves boil up inside of me with each step I took behind Luna. All my life, in both this and my old one, I didn’t expect to find myself celebrated like this. Everyone all looked so posh and proper, and their glittering clothes are blinding to my eyes. Did they put gold on their clothes, or they’re using some kind of special silk to do that? I think I have heard of similar looking silk once more…

I was brought out of my mind with Luna verbally clear her throat, I glancing to her in a curtsy and quickly followed suit.

Sadly, thanks to my inexperience with wearing things with high heels, I lost balance and ended up falling onto my side, much to my embarrassment.

The small amalgamation of chuckles around me just increase the heat in my cheeks even more as I hastily got back on my feet and redid the curtsy again. Even the king is silently chuckling under his hand. Damn it, this is why I hate high-heels!

The king let out a small cough that silenced the audience of nobility, before starting his speech.

“Luna, our beloved crown princess. You have done well to uncover the nefarious plot in the shadow and despite failing to stop it, manages to put an end to the coup and apprehend the culprit behind all of it. And you, Rein of the Silver Fang, thank you for protecting her and assisting in her endeavour. For that, I am honoured to award you the Dragon’s Cross.”

The marine officer next to him, one Lewis Strongheart that is in a somewhat formal attire that is too tight for him with how tight and defined his muscular chest and limbs are stretched under his suit with his Marine coat on his shoulders like a cape, stepped forward and spoke with a lower but firmer tone than usual.

“And for your services for saving an affiliated nation, the World Government is proud to present you with an award of our own; the World Government’s Medal of Service.”

As I let the Britt and Marine soldiers hang the two medals around my neck, I thought back to what I was told about those two.

From what Luna had told me and what I can find in the Goddess’s Guidebook, the Medal of Service is just as its name implies. It is given to any civilian who has done a great deed that is recognised by the World Government, which includes stopping a coup for an affiliated country like the Britt Kingdom. The medal itself is that of the World Government’s symbol in what I can tell is silver with a strap blue cloth tied to it.

As for the Dragon’s Cross, it’s the same thing but is considered the highest honour to be given to anyone in the Britt Kingdom. The medal is that a dragon’s head inside a shield tied to a white strap that has a red line in the middle.

Both me and Luna turned around, showing to the world our earned medals as the king proclaimed to the audience.

“I present to you all once more, our brave heroes!!”

Hands start clapping and flashes of our pictures getting taken lit up once in a while; both me and Luna stood there looking pretty as everyone took a good look at us.

As much as I hate getting this much attention, I can’t lie that this doesn’t feel good.

* * *

 

After the ceremony, everyone is invited to a large banquet at the ballroom. The room itself is huge, as stereotypical for a ballroom to be. Chandeliers hang about on the ceiling being shiny and glaring down on everyone, with curtains of similar shade as the ones in the throne room.

Scattered about the room are long tables with various high-quality dishes on them, all looking every fancy and expensive. Clams, lobsters, marbled beef, fatty tuna, fresh abalone, I think I saw some caviar spread on some kind of biscuit, all high-quality gourmet-level food that normal commoner folk like me most likely can’t afford on the daily basis.

That didn’t stop me from picking them and devouring them all, though.

All the noblemen and women all wander about, chatting and gossiping to one another while a small band played some fancy tune in the background to set the mood for everyone. All in all, it is as typical of a banquet as it can be.

I found myself hanging away from the corner with a plate filled the brim all the food I can find. Luna has wandered into the crowd of noblewomen and is already chatting up a storm about something.

Thankfully, most of the aristocrats took a glance at me from afar and never approach me, most likely due to me stuffing my face with delicious shellfish. They sure know how to cook their scallops, and their crabs are out of this world. I have never tasted lobster before, and now I know why they are such a great seafood.

“I’m glad to see you enjoying yourself.”

A familiar voice spoke to me as, Suiren walked up to me in a navy-blue waistcoat and dress pants with shining leather shoes, white dress shirt underneath and a red rose corsage in her right breast pocket. Her hair is in the usual ponytail and she wore white gloves over her hands. All in all, she looks like a wonderful gentleman that any girl would fall for.

The beauty of reverse traps is truly mind-blowing…

Also, you guys are probably wondering why Suiren and Lewis are here. Well, you see, they and their marine branch are here to help transport our pirate prisoners to a proper World Government prison, after which they are also instructed to present the medal to me and so on and so forth.

“Hey, Suiren.” I greeted, swallowing the bite of lobster meat in my mouth before presenting her with my plate, “Want some? Their crab is to die for.”

“Thanks, but I’m rather full just watching you eat.” She chuckles as she stood next to me, “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good.” I stated as I bite into some beef skewers, “The high-heels are killing my thighs, but the food took my mind off of it.”

“Yeah, that tumble of yours is pretty funny.” She chuckles.

Let loose a small groan at that comment, “Please let that NOT be on tomorrow’s news…”

“Also…” She looks up and down at my attire, “Didn’t expect you to wear such a dress. You look amazingly cute in it.”

My cheeks burned at her comment as I fought back my beating heart. I keep forgetting how much of a natural flirt she can be, especially with the type of faces she makes when doing so. Damn it, Suiren, you damn gigolo! Stop making my heart beat so hard already!

“D-Damn it, don’t just suddenly spring that on me!” I cried as I hid my blushing face with my spare hand.

“Ah, sorry, sorry…”

“Quite the womanizer you are, Suiren.” A rather pompous voice spoke, “As expected of our branch most desired bachelor.”

A young man in a stripped suit walks up to us with a small self-important smile on his face. His pink hair is well-combed and he has a scar on his right cheek. In his hand is a small glass of champagne where I can see steel bolts on where his knuckles are.

He looks awfully familiar, like I have seen him somewhere before but can’t quite remember where…

“You know I hated that term, Fullbody.”

“Hey, I’m not the one that came up with it.”

Then I hit me. Fullbody! Of course! That one marine that got his ass kicked by Sanji before befriending Jango and ends up working for Hina! He was such a minor character that I have forgotten about him! Isn’t he a Lieutenant before?

“So, are you going to introduce me?” He says to Suiren who then turns to me.

“Oh right. Rein, this is my partner, Lieutenant Fullbody.” She introduces me, “Fullbody, this is Rein.”

“A pleasure to meet you, miss Rein.” He greets as he pulls my hand up to his lips, “May I first say how beautiful your dress is. Not as beautiful as you, though.”

Wow, that is such a cheesy compliment that it made Samerson’s own cheesy pick-up lines feel tempting. Also, personal space much, buddy?

“Fullbody, that line is way too cheesy…” Suiren sighs, “And can’t you tell she doesn’t like you doing that?” As she says that, I pull my hand away from his grasp.

“Yikes. Haha, quite a fierce one…” He nervously laughed before muttering under his breath, “That always works, though…”

Yeah, maybe against cheap girls who would easily buy into his suave words, but as someone who is also a dude and has used the same words before…? Nope. Not happening.

“Also, what are doing here?” She asked him, “Aren’t you supposed to be on the other side of the room?”

“Well, you look like you are flirting with our good heroine here, and I wanted in on the fun.” He chuckles, “Can’t have you breaking another heart, after all.”

“We’ve met.” I tells him, “And I know she’s a girl, as baffling as it sounds…” Then what Suiren said hits me, “Other side of the room? What, you two in undercover or something?”

“…You’re the one that blew it this time.” Fullbody points at Suiren, who groans at that.

“A slip of the tongue…” She says before whispering to me, “Rein, don’t raise your voice, okay?” I nodded and she continues, “Captain Strongheart wanted to be sure that there aren’t anymore revolutionaries hidden among them, so we are to act like guests while we keep an eye out. Fullbody here is supposed to be on the other side doing the same thing.”

“I still think Captain Strongheart is overthinking it.” He stated, “The evidence is obvious that Reginold is the one behind the whole thing, not the Revolutionary Army.”

“Oh, is that so?” I muttered. Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry, I suppose… Although, I doubt Dragon would want to start a revolt in this kingdom, especially considering its history with such a thing. From what I can see, they aren’t like the ones that he would target.

“Even so, orders are orders.” Suiren tells her partner, “So if you don’t mind…?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He sighs as he walks off, “Try not to break anymore hearts, okay?”

“Just go, already.”

As the Lieutenant disappear into the crowd, Suiren turns to me and sighs, “Sorry about that. Hope this doesn’t put a downer on the celebration.”

“It’s fine.” I assures her as I shove the skewer into my mouth and pulls out the stick, “At least he isn’t those over flirty guys.”

“He’s not that bad, once you get over his… well, I would say womanizing, but the only ones that fell for his words are his one-night-stands and hostesses.” She chuckles, “But he’s a pretty good person. In fact, he helped me a lot when I first transferred here.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Now, if only he would stop trying to act all suave for the ladies…”

We both let loose a chuckle at that. And I thought Samerson was the worst. Looks like even Marines have their equivalent…

“Rein!”

A very familiar cry can be heard, I turn around to see someone I didn’t expect to come here running up to me, dressed in black evening dress with a v-cut on the front to show off her impressive cleavage, along with a slit open on one side to show off her thigh and the same sandal high-heels she always wears.

“Silvia!?” I cried out in surprise as my captain ran up to me, “What are you doing here?”

“We were brought here.” Her vice-captain walks up behind her, Lee is dressed in a white suit under a black dress shirt with a white bowtie along with a pair of white dress pants and brown leather shoes. “Some guys with the royal crest waited for us at the docks and gave us invites to come here. They even use a carriage and everything.”

“You are really amazing, Rein!” Silvia tells me with a wide grin, “To think you’ll save an entire kingdom!! Oh man, wait till the rest hear about this! We are definitely going to Disco Island after this!”

“Who else came here?” I asked them, “Is Sen here too?”

“Just us and Sen, I’m afraid.” Lee stated, “But Sen went off somewhere the moment we entered the castle. Who knows where he might be?”

“Huh…” I thought about whether I should be worried, but then I decided to not think about it. After all, he has been here before, didn’t he? He has to know his way around. I doubt he is like Zoro in that regard.

But one can’t help wonder where he would even go…

* * *

 

Sen walks up to a coffin within the tombs under the castle, one which has the name [Arthurious] engraved into the stone tablet in front of it. He kneels down in front of it and lays down a small bundle of flowers next to the stone tablet.

“Hey there, Arthur.” He says to the coffin in front of me, “Sorry for not coming to your funeral. Didn’t know about it until a week ago.” He pats on the stone coffin, feeling the grains under his fingertips. Many emotions filled him; many memories run through his head as he stands there in silence for his dead friend.

The time they first met where he introduced himself as Meron due to unable to come up with an alias for himself until he saw a melon that he procured just moments ago.

The times he spent instructing him in the ways of swordsmanship after he had persistently asked so many times.

The time in which he was asked to join him with the rebellion to achieve his dream of liberating Twilight Isles from the Latian’s corrupted grasp.

That one time that he has to break him out of prison and laughed his head off after he was told how he got caught in the first place.

The moment in which he gave Grimsalve to him, only for him to change its name to Elderburn moments later.

That moment in which he came out with the Latian King, bounded in chains, and proclaims the end of the war.

The moment the flag of the Britt Kingdom was first raised into the air.

When he got married and he was the priest.

When Solaria is born.

When Solaria is married and he was once again the priest.

When Luna was born.

When he officially stepped down and past the crown to his dearest son.

When his wife died of illness.

When the two shared one last drink one year ago, where he has asked the old king if he had finally realised his dream. And his answer, till this day, is one that he couldn’t bring himself to forget.

_“My dream of freeing the land is fulfilled.” He says as he down the shot of rum, “And now, my dream of assuring the kingdom’s prosperity would go on, by my son’s hand, by my granddaughter’s hand, by her son’s hand and so forth. Even now, my dream is still going strong.”_

That was the last time he has ever spoke to him, and the last time he would ever have a drink with him.

He uncocks the bottle of rum he has brought with him, and proceeds to pour it all over the coffin with reckless abandon.

“Your dream is still going strong, huh…?” He wonders before chuckling, “Indeed it is.” He raises the bottle in a toast, “To your dream, my dear friend. May you rest in peace.”

He then chugs the rest of the rum, tears flowing down his cheeks with each gulp.

“Pwah, so salty…”

* * *

 

It is now late in the evening, the orange sunset shimmering in the distance.

After the banquet is over, I have gathered my things and met up with Silvia, Lee and Sen, and we all went back to Port Royalise to re-join the rest of the crew on the Silver Fang. Luna is also here to see me off.

“So, you’re finally leaving.” She stated with a smile, “Hard to believe we only known each other for just a week. And now…”

“We are friends.” I smiled back.

The few days I have spent in the castle, besides researching for the vault, I have spent some time with Luna as we prepared for the ceremony. We have talked, have a somewhat awkward sleepover which ended up rather… raunchy to say the least, and overall formed a bond with each other.

“Be sure to write often.” She tells me.

“Of course.” I stated with a grin, “Not sure what I would write about, though.”

“Anything is fine!” She stated, “What are you doing at the time, what you have for lunch that day, stuff like that!”

“That feels more like an exchange diary then anything…”

“…Sorry, I have never had a pen-pal before… and…”

“It’s fine.” I assures her, “I’ll to write, but don’t expect too much.”

“I won’t.”

“Hey.”

We both share a chuckle at that, before she walks up and embraced me in a hug. I welcome it and hugs her back. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Me too.”

Soon enough, I board back on to the Silver Fang and we sail off into the distance. I turn back to the docks, where Luna is waving her arms at me, shouting her goodbyes. I then replied back by waving my arms as well.

With that, the curtains fall for the Twilight Isles.

_…_

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, done!! Oh god, this epilogue is way harder than I thought it would be. I sure hope the last few parts doesn’t feel too sloppy, as I have run out of things to say… Also, yes, there are some development off-screen but I’ll try to address them.
> 
> So yes, with this, the Twilight Isles Arc has finally come to a close!! How do you all feel about it? Let me know, please! Criticism is most welcomed!
> 
> And on a side note, with this, I may take a small break from this fic. I’m not abandoning it, just wanting to focus on a new fic I have ideas for.
> 
> Keep a look out for when it will drop!


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